By Bernama
Los Angeles : Junk e- mails that promise erotic pictures of celebrities are spreading a virus to personal computers, said a Los Angeles-based IT security company.
The e-mails generally have subjects such as “Naked Shakira Clip,” “Rihanna Exposed” or other suggestive messages, which lure computer users to click a link, according to Panda Security, a leading provider of IT security solutions, was quoted by China’s XINHUA news agency as saying.
By clicking the link, the user will download a copy of Agent.IMB Trojan, which copies itself into the computer system with the name “CbEvtSvc.exe.”
“This social engineering technique is not new at all. However, given the number of cyber-crooks that keep using it, there must still be many users who fall into the trap,” said Luis Corrons, technical director of PandaLabs.
“Malware creators sometimes use the same kind of e-mail to spread different malware strains, so it wouldn’t be surprising to find junk mail like this being used over the next few days to distribute other malicious codes like downloader Trojans, banker Trojans and others,” Corrons added.
Panda officials advised computer users to avoid opening e-mail messages from people they do not know and clicking on links the messages may contain.