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Twilight Star Ashley Greene Subject for Malware

Hackers take advantage of the Ashley Greene scandal to install malware on PCs

Aug 18, 2009 14:30 GMT  ·  By
Ashley Greene, the latest Hollywood name involved in malware distribution
   Ashley Greene, the latest Hollywood name involved in malware distribution

Hollywood actress Ashley Greene, star of the box-office hit “Twilight,” is the recent focal point of Internet-transmitted malware. After "very personal" pics of the star were leaked a week ago on the Internet, hackers put together several malware-distributing campaigns with Ashley's photos as the main subject.

Graham Cluley, one of Sophos's experts, has discovered several websites and methods from which hackers bait users to a page where malicious software is installed on their computers. Mac and Windows users have been taking the hits, with malware including the likes of OSX/Jahlav-C for Mac users and Mal/EncPk-JD for Windows ones.

Mr. Cluley is advising us not to go Google-ing for Ashley's photos, since many campaigns have been carried out by more than one hack group across numerous message boards and forums. Links are being posted to websites containing malware, with a promise for users wanting to see Ashley in indiscreet positions.

These malware infections will provide hackers with a way to monitor or remotely control users' PCs, gaining access to personal data or performing illicit acts from an unsuspecting victim's computer.

Mac users should avoid saving any DMG files that will pop up as a QuickTime update. These updates will curiously appear when viewing a QuickTime movie of Ashley Greene's photos.

Windows users are advised to avoid installing a file called "flash-plugin.45082.exe," which may contain the dreaded Mal/EncPk-JD malware, a remote PC controller.

Lately, similar attacks have been carried out using other celebrity names that found themselves in the middle of a scandal, as Erin Andrews (ESPN sports reporter) peep videos and Leighton Meester's home-made, "personal" videos (Gossip Girl) were a hit on the Internet.

Hackers will tend to use popular search phrases to take advantage of the hype created by a trendy topic, as we have also seen with the recent death of Michael Jackson that spurred the hottest spam topic for June and July.

See more details on Graham Cluley's blog post, which can be found here.