Chinese quake news hides Trojan

Cybercriminals are attempting to exploit interest in the recent Chinese earthquake in order to infect the PCs of unwitting surfers. An email currently in circulation and spotted by security firm Sophos, gives the official death toll and encourages you to open an attachment to get more news. However, the attachment is a specially-created Word document which triggers your PC to begin downloading a Trojan from the web. "Over the last few weeks, we've already seen several examples of cybercriminals trying to exploit the natural disasters suffered by China and Burma, and it seems there's no end to their tactics," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos. "To avoid falling victim, computer users need to use their common sense and not open emails from people they don't know. By deleting them straight away, you're cutting the fraudsters off before they even have the chance to trick you into giving them money as they pose as victims of the tragedy, or try and install malware on your computer," continued Cluley. www.sophos.com