03 Nov 2003
Email virus lures with adult "Sex and the City" outtakes, Sophos reports
Virus experts at Sophos have warned fans of "Sex and the City"
to be wary of emails claiming to contain a screensaver showing
adult outtakes from the raunchy hit TV show.
The W32/Torvil-A and W32/Torvil-B worms travel
via email with a variety of subject lines and message bodies
including:
Real outtakes from Sex in the City!! Adult content!!! Use
with parental advisory =)
If the attached file is launched the worm will try and forward
itself every time the infected computer sends an email, as well as
post itself to public internet newsgroups.
"Whether you're a fan of the TV show or simply lust after Sarah
Jessica Parker's Manolo Blahnik shoes you may find it hard to
resist launching the screensaver," said Graham Cluley, senior
technology consultant for Sophos. "Carrie Bradshaw's Apple Mac
can't be infected by this particular worm - but PC users should
ensure they follow safe computing guidelines and practise safe
hex."
Sophos notes that the female stars of "Sex and the City" are
just the latest in the long line of glamorous celebrities who have
been used as bait by virus writers to catch unwary computer users.
Other female stars to have been exploited by virus writers in the
past include Britney Spears, Shakira, Anna Kournikova, Halle Berry,
Julia Roberts, Jennifer Lopez and Kylie Minogue.
About Sophos
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy and use and that deliver the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs - a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.