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Saturday November 28, 2009 7:04 PM AEST
Skip Navigation LinksPC Authority > News > Large Hadron Collider spam carries virus
Large Hadron Collider spam carries virus
NEWS

Large Hadron Collider spam carries virus

by Staff Writers  on Nov 25, 2009
"Remove fingers? Agreed. Round up all the spammers as well. Their constant drivel is costing us all $$$."
 
Security experts are warning of a malware attack disguised as a video of the Large Hadron Collider in action.

The bogus video link arrives in an email, which security firm Sophos said is "dodgy from the start".

The message reads: 'Wow, don't ask me how I get this video, but it's realy [sic] cool,' followed by a mytinyurl.net web link.

The scammers claim in the email that thousands of people have already enjoyed and bookmarked the video, but that it requires a special Flash plug-in to work. The plug-in contains the malware infection.

"Of course, since this video is so 'cool' and 'new' we don't seem to have the correct Flash plug-in for the movie, so we are asked to update it," said Sophos Labs researcher Prashant Kumar in a blog post.

"Far from watching the world's largest particle accelerator in action, we get another boring old malware. This so-called Flash update is malicious. We detect this malware as Troj/TDSS-BP."

The malware writers have timed the spam campaign to coincide with last week's successful test of the Large Hadron Collider after the project was suspended 14 months ago.

Copyright © 2009 v3.co.uk
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Comments: 2
Thoughts on this article? Add a comment below.
Slatts
Nov 25, 2009 8:11 PM
God I hate opportunist bottom feeder scum malware writers.

When caught they should have their fingers removed.




Comment made about the PC Authority article:
Large Hadron Collider spam carries virus?
Security experts are warning of a malware attack disguised as a video of the Large Hadron Collider in action.

What do you think? Join the discussion.
blockcentre
Nov 25, 2009 10:29 PM
Remove fingers? Agreed. Round up all the spammers as well. Their constant drivel is costing us all $$$.

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