A computer security website has issued a warning that hackers are misusing a video that has naked shots of glamorous ESPN sports reporter Erin Andrews as a lure to attack PCs.
The illegally taped peephole video, showing Andrews as she disrobes, gets viewers and web surfers to download dangerous malware to their computers
, reports CBS News.
The sportscaster wants the cameraman brought to justice, both for herself and to keep other victims from having to go through the same nightmare. Andrews’ lawyer, Marshall Grossman, confirmed she was “surreptitiously videotaped” while “in the privacy of her hotel room”. Many of the links are not the video, but rather automatically downloaded computer viruses.
"Although the perpetrators of this criminal act have not yet been identified, when they are identified, she intends to bring both civil and criminal charges against them and against anyone who has published the material”, Grossman said.
The video went viral online and ESPN lawyers have been scrambling to shut down websites that post links to the material, and even though it means that it would be difficult to locate on the net, there is still a huge demand for it.
According to sophos.com, a website that sells security software and also provides security news, it is that drive that is enabling hackers to plug in. Sophos said one version of the hack, fools surfers into clicking on what appears to be a CNN version of the video. Hackers have been quick to set up bogus Web pages claiming to contain the video footage of Andrews in her hotel room.
When users hit the play button, they are presented with a pop up window warning them that their popup blocker has blocked the video player window, and they must launch another player. Doing so doesn’t play the video, but it does install a Trojan horse with which hackers can later attack the computer, says the site.
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