14 DAY TRIAL // Last week, the security companies from all over the world reported a highly critical vulnerability in Microsoft Windows that can allow an attacker to control an affected system. According to the reports, the security firms discovered a security flaw in the way Windows handles the ANI files, allowing attackers to connect to an affected system and take control over it. At that time, the hackers tried to find new victims through the e-mail spam by sending numerous messages from a fake Microsoft e-mail address. Today, Sophos describes another technique used by the attackers that are now trying to lure victims by sending them Britney Spears and Paris Hilton spam.
"On 30 March the initial campaign began, with just a link to a Russian website. The site contained a script that pointed at a zero-day exploit of Microsoft's animated cursor (ANI) vulnerability. Since the initial campaign, the hackers' attack has evolved. In the last few days spammed email messages with subject lines such as "Hot pictures of Britney Speers" have contained an embedded image of the scantily clad pop star which links to a number of websites which have been had the animated cursor exploit planted on them by hackers," Sophos sustained.
According to the security company, the users are encouraged to click on a malicious link by an e-mail message containing Britney Spears pictures. Although the developer of Windows, the software giant Microsoft, already published a patch to fix the vulnerability, the hackers are continuously working on new techniques to exploit the flaw. So, no matter if the e-mail message has Britney Spears, Paris Hilton or any other celebrity pictures, try to avoid clicking on them because you might get your computer infected.