Online security firm Sophos.com has sounded the alarm for a new virus that's making the rounds on the Internet.
Many email viruses spread by enticing unsuspecting users with an eye-catching subject line. This one is no different, appearing in inboxes with the subject line "Obama sex video!!!" The return address is infonews@obama.com.
The email does deliver some adult content: an amateur adult scene that stars no senators or presidential candidates. It does, however, star a virus.
While the video plays, a Trojan horse called Mal/Hupig-D sneaks onto the user's computer and steals sensitive information like passwords and bank account numbers.
The virus only targets Windows computers.
This latest virus includes hallmarks of two viruses that hit earlier this year. Computer security company Kaspersky Lab discovered a rogue profile on the micro-blogging website Twitter.com that's advertising adult downloads, provided users download a Flash-based player to play the movies.
That's the virus. A user who downloads the "player," actually downloads and installs a virus capable of hijacking their computer.
In June, researchers from security firms MX Logic Inc. and F-Secure sounded the alarm about a new email bot that sent hapless surfers to a fake adult site that infected their computers with a spam bot. As with this current outbreak, that virus ensnared victims with catchy subject lines like:
• White House hit by lightning. • Obama drops out of presidential race. • Italy knocked out of Euro 2008. • Man wakes up from 40-year coma.
For more information on computer security and virus alerts, visit Sophos.com, MXLogic.com or F-Secure.com.