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warning
COMPUTER users are being targeted by hackers urging people to view a photograph of a dead Osama bin Laden.
Thousands of rogue messages have been posted on internet chat-rooms in the past few days suggesting journalists have discovered the al-Qaeda leader hanged.
The messages tell users to visit a website to view the photographs of bin Laden which they claim have been withheld by US authorities while they confirm the identity of the body.
Attempts to download the bogus picture fail, but, unknown to users, their computer may have been infected with a piece of malicious software in the process.
The software, known as a Trojan Horse because it uses a back-door method of infection, is programmed to steal sensitive information like bank details from the computer or exploits the terminal to spread spam e-mails.
Experts are warning anyone with a computer to ensure they have up-to-date anti-virus software to prevent themselves becoming a victim of the Trojan, dubbed Hackarmy.
Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at anti-virus software firm Sophos, said: "Hackers and virus writers will try all kinds of tricks to entice people into downloading their malicious code.
"It seems this time that the hacker has focused on the public’s morbid curiosity and appetite for news on the war against terror."
He added: "We don’t known the impact it has had but we know it is designed to allow hackers to gain access to computers and once inside they can steal information or whatever - the world is their oyster."
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Goodbye!
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