Yet Another Nudie Trojan Warning

Web security gurus from Sophos have found another reason to keep your zipper up and belt firmly buckled. As if it weren't already good practice to avoid nudies on the Internet, a new Trojan horse is teasing web users with explicit images and videos.

The problems have arisen via emails. No surprise there. Although the folks at Sophos (and Infopackets, too) are still finding it hard to believe that people could be duped into something so blatantly laced with threats, there are those out there who are clicking. (source: hackinthebox.org)

What happens to those individuals is not quite as attractive as the sexy models they were seeking. Instead, while a list of free sites is opened via the email, a Trojan stealthily downloads malicious material to the affected computer. Once it's installed, the Trojan allows a hacker access to files, inject adware, and for spying or other nasty purposes.

Having to report the problem and take on the embarrassment might be almost as bad as owning a diseased computer. However, according to Caroline Theriault, a senior security consultant for Sophos, people are willing to take the risk. On Sophos' official website, she says, "Despite the numerous warnings users have probably heard about safe computing and appropriate online behaviour, emails with racy subject lines still seem hard to resist for some users." (source: sophos.com)

The official name of the Trojan is Psyme-DL. Sophos considers the threat significant enough that it is openly warning corporate America to protect against such problem emails, and this one especially.