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You weren’t expecting real models were you?
Here’s a hot tip: If you get an email which claims to be able to set you up with free pornography, you should assume that it’s a scam. If you’re into that kind of thing, remember that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Further, it’s likely to get you into trouble.
EWeek is reporting that the newest mass-mailing worm is out there to help thieves take over your bank account. And, it’s one that appeals to your purient interests.
The worm, called “W32.Maslan.C”, mails itself as an attachment called “PlayGirls_2.exe”. Here’s the text that comes with it (courtesy of Symantec):
Hello [Random name]
–
Best regards,
[Random name]
So, there’s nothing in the body of the message that would cause you to open the attachment. Just the name. You weren’t really expecting to get free porn were you? And what’s so appealing about playgirls anyway? They certainly wouldn’t respect you in the morning.
Here’s the bad news: The virus opens a “back door” into infected computers which will allow someone to run their programs without the owner’s knowledge. It will send copies of itself to email addresses found in address books and other places using its own SMTP engine (so the computer’s owner can’t stop it by closing their email reader). And finally, it will make changes to some files, close security programs (like anti-virus and firewall software) and log and transmit keystrokes so that the owner’s usernames and passwords are compromised.
The good news is that this is a really new threat (8 December 2004). Further, all three of the biggest anti-virus makers (Symantec, McAfee, and Sophos)have already updated their software to deal with it.
The question is, have you updated yours to take advantage of the protection?
MickC @ December 13, 2004