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Michael Jackson mass-mailing worm hits inboxes, Sophos reports

Email worm also capable of spreading via USB devices

Singapore, 2 July 2009 -- IT security and control firm Sophos is today warning computer users to exercise extra caution when using email, following the discovery of a mass-mailing worm attack that is currently spreading via a malicious email campaign.

The email, which has the subject line 'Remembering Michael Jackson' and claims to come from 'sarah@michaeljackson.com', says that an attached ZIP file - titled 'Michael songs and pictures.zip' contains secret songs and photos of Michael Jackson.

However, by opening the attachment, computer users are exposed to infection. Once infected, a computer will begin automatically spreading the worm onto other internet users. Besides spreading via email, Sophos experts note that the malware is also capable of spreading as an Autorun component on USB memory sticks - an increasingly common trend for malware, as use of these devices becomes more and more popular.

"In light of the huge interest in Jackson since his sudden death, there are likely to be many computer users who are tempted into opening the attachment," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos. "But sensible computer users should by now be well aware that cybercriminals will be quick to exploit news events to spread malware and spam. Anyone who receives this email should delete it immediately to save themselves the embarrassment of infecting their email contacts."

Sophos detects the malware proactively as Mal/ZipMal-B and Mal/VB-AD, and recommends that users of other anti-virus products ensure that their defences are properly updated.

For further information, including an image of the offending email, please visit Graham Cluley's blog at: http://www.sophos.com/blogs/gc/g/2009/07/01/michael-jackson

# # #


About Sophos:
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy and use and that deliver the industry’s lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs—a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards.

Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at http://www.sophos.com

Media Contacts:
Tony Tan
MS&L Singapore
Tel: (65) 9048 6981
E-mail:

Submitted by TonyTan@MS&L, Manning Selvage & Lee on Thursday, 2 July 2009 at 10:22 AM
Category: Enterprise Technology
 
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