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| The Resident Evil: Outbreak video game is being
promoted by an ill-conceived viral marketing campaign. |
A marketing campaign to promote the latest version of the
Resident Evil video game has backfired, as mobile phone users
believe they have been infected by a virus.
Sophos technical support has received enquiries from users who
have received unsolicited SMS text messages on their mobile phones
telling them they are infected by the so-called T-Virus.
Sophos's investigation has discovered that the messages are
being sent from a website designed to promote the game Resident
Evil: Outbreak, in which players defend themselves against zombies
by blowing their heads off with a shotgun.
The website allows unsolicited text messages to be sent to
mobile phones claiming that the phone is infected, without the
permission of the phone's owner. A typical message reads as
follows:
Outbreak: I'm infecting you with t-virus, my
code is ******. Forward this to 60022 to get your own code and
chance to win prizes. More at t-virus.co.uk
"The messages themselves are not infectious, but some people
have panicked that they might have received a real mobile phone
virus," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for
Sophos. "This marketing campaign seems particularly ill-conceived,
particularly as there is so much genuine interest in the mobile
virus threat at present."
Sophos is also disturbed that CE Europe, the company behind the
marketing campaign, have issued a press release including quotes
suggesting that the "outbreak" is "totally out of control"
'We had to come clean about the T-VIRUS
eventually,' commented Ben Le Rougetel, Senior PR Manager and Chief
Virologist, CE Europe. 'The T-VIRUS was originally designed to
promote the release of Resident Evil: Outbreak for PS2, but it's
spread much quicker than we originally anticipated. It's now
totally out of control and we're not totally sure how to stop
it.'
"The press release implies that the messages have stopped being
a marketing device, and have become a real virus. The truth is that
viral marketing campaigns like this generate work for IT
departments and anti-virus support desks as we have to reassure
users that it is not a genuine infection," continued Cluley.
Sophos notes that this is not the first time a virus hoax has
been started to promote a product. In 1996, Penguin Books started
the Irina hoax in an
attempt to promote a new book. That hoax continued to spread for
some years.
Sophos continues to receive many support queries from users
troubled by virus hoaxes and email chain letters, and recommends
users always check an anti-virus vendor's website when they receive
a possible hoax. The Sophos website's hoax information section is one of the
most highly respected sources for reliable information on new
hoaxes.
To keep informed about the most prevalent hoaxes and viruses,
you can add a free Sophos information feed to your own website or
intranet.
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.