Virus: "Osama bin Laden Captured" and "Osama bin Laden Hanged"
Examples:
[Collected via e-mail, 2004]
Hey, Just got this from CNN, Osama Bin Laden has been captured! A video and some pictures have been released. Go to the link below for pictures, I will update the page with the video as soon as I can.
[Collected via e-mail, 2004]
Osama Found Hanged
Osama Bin Ladin was found hanged by two CNN journalists early Wedensday evening.
As evidence they took several photos, some of which i have included here.
As yet, this information has not hit the headlines due to Bush wanting confirmation of his identity but the journalists have released some early photos over the internet..
http://24.13.130.125:89/OsamaFoundDead.zip
[Collected via e-mail, 2005]
Turn on your TV.
Osama Bin Laden has been captured.
While CNN has no pictures at this point of time, the military channel (PPV) released some pictures.
I managed to capture a couple of these pictures off my TV.
Ive attached a slideshow containing all the pictures I managed to capture.
I apologize for the low quality, its the best I could do at this point of time.
Hopefully CNN will have pictures and a video soon.
God bless the USA!
Variations: In mid-2006 the "Osama" virus warnings were combined with the text of the (hoax) "Invitation" virus warning.
Origins: There are few headlines that would grab the attention of more computer users around the world than news of Osama bin Laden's having been captured or killed, so that's exactly the bait pranksters have used more than once in attempting to lure
unsuspecting victims users of Microsoft Windows platforms into installing malicious code onto their computers.
In July 2004 a message claiming to offer links to photographs of Osama Bin Laden's suicide was
spammed to multiple newsgroups. The links actually tricked users into opening a file that installed the Backdoor.Hacarmy.D trojan horse.
In June 2005, similarly-themed e-mail message claimed to offer images of the capture and arrest of Osama bin Laden scanned from news videos and collected in an attached ZIP file, but the attachment actually harbored a version of the Psyme Trojan.
Both trojans were easily detected and removed with updated virus protection software, and neither Osama message is circulating widely or poses much of a threat to PC users any more.
Last updated: 17 November 2009
The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/osama.asp
