- The death of Osama Bin Laden has resulted in an explosion of malware or malicious code throughout the Internet.
- Criminals are capitalizing on the public's interest in gruesome photos and/or videos purporting to be of a dead Bin Laden.
The US government is keeping such digital records under tight control. Public access is as of yet out of the question. Nevertheless, individuals cannot seem to resist the urge to "click" on links offering "authentic photos of Bin Laden after death."
E-mail, social networking sites and hijacked websites are all vehicles being used to circulate Bin Laden related malware. Some clicks on Bin Laden links result in malware being installed directly onto a computer. Other times there is a request for information — passwords or credit card numbers.
Making the situation even more confusing are the fictitious Bin Laden death photos now circulating. Photo editing software makes it simple to create hideous images that look quite plausible. Don't be fooled. Network security firms from McAfee to Kaspersky Lab are advising the public to update anti-virus software, update operating system and software security patches and please don't click!