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| Computer users who fall for the Bin Laden hoax
may be hit by a Trojan horse |
Experts at Sophos have warned computer users that a file posing
as photographic evidence that Osama Bin Laden has killed himself is
in fact infected by the Hackarmy Trojan
horse.
Thousands of messages have been posted onto internet message
boards and usenet newsgroups claiming that journalists from CNN
found the terrorist leader's hanged body earlier this week, but
that the photographs have not been officially made public as the
USA wishes to verify it is Bin Laden.
The messages point to a website where a file can be downloaded,
purporting to contain photographs. In reality the file contains a
Trojan horse which can allow hackers to gain remote control of an
innocent computer.
A typical message reads as follows:
Osama Bin Ladin was found hanged by two CNN journalists
early Wedensday evening. As evidence they took several photos, some
of which i have included here. As yet, this information has not hit
the headlines due to Bush wanting confirmation of his identity but
the journalists have released some early photos over the
internet..
<url removed>
"Hackers and virus writers will try all kinds of tricks to
entice people into downloading their malicious code," said Graham
Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "It seems this
time that the hacker has focused on the public's morbid curiosity
and appetite for news on the war against terror."
Sophos continues to recommend computer users practise safe computing as well as running
up-to-date anti-virus software.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.