Hackers e-mailing Michael Jackson suicide rumor to spread virus

[WoodysGirl]

Just to prove creativity still thrives, hackers have been spreading a trojan virus through e-mail messages containing a rumor that Michael Jackson attempted


by Dave Porter

June 10, 2005 (AXcess News) Reno NV - Just to prove creativity still thrives, hackers have been spreading a trojan virus through e-mail messages containing a rumor that Michael Jackson attempted suicide.

The Trojan virus comes in the form of an e-mail message whose subject line reads, "Re: Suicidal Attempt" and the body contains a brief description, "Last night while in his Neverland Ranch, Michael Jackson attempted suicide." A link then directs you to the full story. Don't click on it!

Readers of that Jackson suicide e-mail message that click on the link are taken to a website with malicious code in it.

The trojan virus alert was first credited to British anti-virus firm, Sophos.

Computers that are infected could be used to spread denial-of-service attacks or to generate spam, Sophos said.

"If you click on the link, the Web site displays a message saying it is too busy, which may not surprise people who think it might contain genuine breaking news about Michael Jackson," a spokesperson of Sophos said.

http://www.axcessnews.com/technology_061005.shtml

 

[GTaylor]

Well the good news is that since it goes to a webpage it'll be easy to shut down. Bad news, however is that since the virus points to a webpage it'll be difficult for people to scan for viruses unless they have it active by default.