Virus writers have moved on from using Osama bin Laden's "suicide" as a lure to trying the same trick with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Last Friday VXers seeded multiple Usenet groups with messages saying Osama bin had killed himself, pointing users towards "photographs" illustrating the momentous news. In reality these images offered only the Hackarmy Trojan. The Trojan has been around for some months and the Usenet trick gives the aging malware a second lease of life.

Over the weekend messages using the same template, but referring to the supposed death of California's Governor began appearing all over Usenet. The messages invited users to download a zip file containing a "screensaver" (again contaminated with the Hackarmy Trojan). This malicious code has since been taken offline, but users are still advised to be cautious. More copycats can be expected as the trick is easy to engineer.

As Reg reader Brian O'Connell puts it: "Looks like someone got himself a copy of 'Virus Authoring for Dummies'." ®

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