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Fri Jan 19, 2007 8:53 AM ET
HELSINKI (Reuters) - Computer virus writers attacked thousands of computers on Friday using an unusually topical email citing raging European storms, a security company said.
The virus, which the company named[highlight] "Storm Worm," was emailed [/highlight]to hundreds of thousands of addresses globally with the subject line "[highlight]230 dead as storm batters Europe[/highlight]."
An attached file contained so-called malware that can infiltrate computer systems.
"What makes this exceptional is the timely nature of the attack," Mikko Hypponen, head of research at Finnish data security firm F-Secure, told Reuters. . Hypponen said thousands of computers, most in private use, had been affected.
He said most users would not notice the malware, or trojan, which creates a back door to the computer that can be exploited later to steal data or to use the computer to post spam.
