Like with so many other events before. Be it the Boston Marathon Bombing, The explosion at the West Texas fertilizer plant, and even 9/11. Malware is taking advantage of an event making international headlines again.
This time, malware writers are setting their sights on news surrounding the recent birth of the third in line in British Royalty.
At this point, malware seems to be focusing on spreading via email. More specifically through a "video" with the latest news.
So, how this works is that you get an email, possibly from your friend, that contains such a video. You click on the video, intending to watch it. But you are asked to update your Adobe Flash Player before you can view the "video." The installer for the update is actually an installer for a Trojan.
There seems to be enough variation so that the installed Trojan could be one of quite a few Trojans. And one of these Trojans has been found to harvest bank information which can be used by the writers of the Trojan to steal your identity.
One simple way to avoid falling for this trick is to be smart about your security. If something claims that you need to update your software, go to the official website for the software and get the update there. That is, if you actually need an update.
Remember, get your news from reliable and reputable sources, and never click on news stories from your email unless you have actually signed up for a newsletter of some type.
Thank you for reading, I invite readers to comment with any questions or comments.
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