Cybercriminals exploit Natasha Richardson’s death

Users keen to get the latest news on Natasha Richardson’s death should be careful about which news story they read. There are compromised websites hosting content related to the award-winning English actress who died after suffering head injuries in a skiing accident earlier in the week.

According to Sophos, attackers have been creating malicious webpages and stuffing them with keywords, most likely through content scraped from legitimate news websites.

By using content related to Natasha Richardson’s death, the cybercriminals have made their attack timely and ensured that it will feature high up in search engine results, increasing the chances of unsuspecting victims visiting the site.

Sophos notes that if and when computer users do visit the compromised web links, a malicious script known as Troj/Reffor-A will run on their computers. This will then run a fake anti-virus product designed to scare users into making an unwise purchase.

Fake anti-virus products, also known as scareware or rogueware, are one of the fastest growing threats on the internet, and attempt to frighten users into believing that your computer has a security problem and that you should purchase a solution from the very people who have tricked you.