juli 26, 2004
Sophos Reports Bin Laden Suicide Virus Hoax
Messages lead readers to Web site supposedly carrying pictures of a hanged
Bin Laden, but that delivers the Hackarmy Trojan horse instead.
Virus experts at security software company Sophos, Inc. on Friday reported
that thousands of virus-laden messages have been posted on newsgroups and
message boards purporting to give access to pictures of terrorist leader
Osama Bin Laden's dead body.
The message claims that CNN reporters found Bin Laden's hanged body some
time ago, but that the pictures had been suppressed while the U.S.
government officially identifies the body and verifies his death as a
suicide. Messages point to a Web site where the photos can be downloaded,
but in fact the download file contains the Hackarmy Trojan horse.
Hackarmy takes control of the target computer after installing itself and
logs on to a predefined IRC server to await backdoor commands. "Hackers and
virus writers will try all kinds of tricks to entice people into downloading
their code," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos.
"This time the focus is on morbid curiosity and an appetite for any news on
the war against terror."
While the Bin Laden Suicide virus was widely reported over the weekend, no
similar report was made by Symantec of McAfee.
Henning H. Jacobsen
--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
FIGHT BACK AGAINST SPAM!
Download Spam Inspector, the Award Winning Anti-Spam Filter
http://mail.giantcompany.com