Malware Sites Already Capitalizing On Announcement Of Osama Bin Laden's Death

May 01, 2011 - 1 min read

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Update (025/02/11 9:40am EST): A before/after comparison of the photoshopped image used in the malicious post can be found here.

Within hours of the announcement of Osama Bin Laden's death, we are already seeing malicious sites emerge to capitalize on the news. One Spanish language site displays a purported photo of a murdered Osama Bin Laden and includes a story about the US led operation. Farther down the page, the reader is presented with a Flash Player window with a message indicating that the user must first update a VLC plugin, which is a popular media player, in order to view the video. When the user clicks on the link, they will download a file titled XvidSetup.exe. This file is actually a popular adware tool known as hotbar. At present, 19 of 41 antivirus engines are blocking the file.

Sadly, there will be no shortage of scams taking advantage of this historic global news. Users should use caution any time a site claims to be offering video or photos related to this news.

- michael

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