A word to the wise: be warned that you could receive the now infamous Jackson suicide virus in your email.
And, no, despite what you might think, the Michael Jackson suicide virus doesn’t encourage you to click on a link where it plays Jackson’s last CD — causing you to commit suicide. Sophos reports it does this:
Experts at SophosLabsâ„¢, Sophos’s global network of virus and spam analysis centers, have warned of a spam campaign that claims that Michael Jackson has attempted suicide in an attempt to lure innocent computer users into being infected by a Trojan horse.
The message, if you are dumb enough mistakenly open it is this:
Subject: Re: Suicidal aattempt
Message text:
Last night, while in his Neverland Ranch, Michael Jackson has made a suicidal attempt.They suggest this attempt follows the last claim was made against the king of pop. 46 years old Michael has left pre-suicid note which describes and interpretes some of his sins.
Read more
But if you click…you have problems.
If you click on the link the website displays a message saying it is too busy, which may not surprise people who think it might contain genuine breaking news about Michael Jackson,” said Carole Theriault, security consultant at Sophos. “However, this is a diversionary tactic – because behind the scenes the website is downloading malware onto the user’s computer without their knowledge.”
Experts at Sophos have analysed the code downloaded by clicking on the link, and determined that it itself attempts to download another Trojan horse which Sophos detects as Troj/Borobt-Gen. Sophos PureMessage has been updated to detect the spam message automatically at email gateways.
Sophos notes that this is not the first time that the troubled pop star has been exploited by virus writers and hackers attempting to spread their malware. In October last year messages were posted on the internet claiming that incriminating home videos belonging to Jackson had been discovered – but clicking on the link infected web surfers with the Hackarmy Trojan horse.
The problem, Sophos notes, is that the virus writers exploit celebrity names.
Beware, then, because we might be hit with THESE celebrity suicide viruses:
THE HOWARD DEAN SUICIDE VIRUS:
Last night, while talking to the press, Howard Dean has made a suicidal attempt and swallowed himself with his own mouth.
They suggest this attempt follows the last controversy involving the king of mouth. Howard has left pre-suicid note which describes and interpretes some of his verbal gaffes that have begun to hurt his party.
Read more.
THE BILL FRIST SUICIDE VIRUS:
Last night, while talking to the a group of social conservatives , Bill Frist has made a suicidal attempt and was consumed by his own ambition.
They suggest this attempt follows the last controversy involving the king of political maneuvers. Bill has left pre-suicide note which describes and interprets some of the intense pain he endured while talking to social conservatives and holding his political finger up to the wind.
Read more.
THE TOM CRUISE PROFESSIONAL SUICIDE VIRUS
Last night, while appearing on a talk show, Tom Cruise has made a suicidal attempt as stood on his head on a chair, screamed “I LOVE HER! I LOVE HER!” until he popped a blood vessel, then jumped a shark.
They suggest this attempt follows the last controversy involving the king of imagery. Cruise has left pre-suicide note which describes and interprets some of the pain he endured from the shock of realizing that when he loosened up he started hurting his career.
Read more.
MORE INFO ABOUT THIS VIRUS:
Cool Tech Zone
1649306,00.html”>Times Online
PC Pro
Win Anti-Virus
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.