June 2005
MasterCard Theft May Spawn Viruses
BitDefender virus analysts warn about the impending appearance of malware using social engineering tricks, centered around the recent case of stolen credit card numbers.
"We expect to see new virus variants and phishing attempts based on this case within the week" declared Mihai Radu, for BitDefender. "While this may seem as a very short time, such attempts must work within the limited attention span imposed by modern media. We already have a precedent in the Paris Hilton case, when numerous viruses were peddling fake "adult" pictures and videos of the heiress just a couple of days after she made the headlines."
BitDefender specialists urged the public to remain weary of any requests to "help recover" stolen info.
RELATED INFO:
NY Times: Lost Credit Data Improperly Kept, Company Admits
USA Today: 40 million credit card holders may be at risk
News.com: Credit card breach exposes 40 million accounts
CNN: 40M credit cards hacked
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