Virus hooks onto CNN headlines

A PC virus has started to spread through e-mail, luring potential victims by disguising itself as a headline newsletter from CNN, an antivirus company said Thursday.

E-mails laden with the virus, dubbed "Crowt.A" by Sophos, do not have a typical subject line and other characteristics, Sophos said. Instead, the virus sends out e-mail messages with subject lines, message content and attachment names drawn from the latest news headlines on CNN's Web site, which it gathers as it spreads. Very few Sophos customers have reported that they been affected by Crowt.A so far, the company said.

"Virus writers are always looking for new tricks to entice innocent computer users into running their malicious code. This latest ploy feeds on people's desire for the latest news," Carole Theriault, a security consultant at Sophos, said in a statement.

If a news-hungry PC user opens an infected e-mail attachment, the virus will install a program to allow remote intruders to rummage through the victim's PC and grab sensitive information. A program that records information entered into the infected computer, known as a keylogger, could also snare a victim's log-in information, Sophos said in its description of the virus, which it is referring to as a worm.

Other computer viruses have incorporated real-time elements in a similar manner to spread faster. The Santy worm, for example, used a real-time search of Google to find vulnerable computers.

The last time attackers targeted CNN was in 2000, when the Time Warner company fell prey--with other online sites--to a series of denial-of-service attacks.

CNN has had a virus for years

It is one that hampers their ability to tell the truth consistantly.

LOL

Thats funny, but your right. The Commy News Network!

[megalene]

Fair and Balanced?

Thats funny, but lets not forget the "fair and balanced" approach coming from FOX News. Its fair and balanced if you dont disagree with their view.

So only allow zip file

You should only be allowing zip files in your email anyways. Allow only zip files, and save youself the head ache!

http://www.jrbtech.com/

Zip files are blocked at work

Aren't there alot of virii that travel via zip files? At work our emails won't receive if they have zip and other types of files. I couldn't even send an outlook pst file through our system.

What happened?

?