Warning that a message offering pictures of Osama Bin Laden's death are viruses-Truth! and Fiction!

Messages that Claim to Have Pictures of Osama Bin Laden‘s Suicide is Actually a Virus-Truth! & Fiction!

Summary of eRumor:

There are at least a couple of versions of this eRumor.  One warns that an email that claims to include pictures of Osama Bin Laden’s suicide is actually designed to trick you into opening a file that contains a virus.  Another says that it’s the worst virus every known and will crash your hard drive.
 

The Truth:


Update 5/1/11:  Osama Bin Laden was shot and killed by Navy Seals in a military operation to apprehend him on May, 1, 2011.  The terrorist’s identification was confirmed by DNA and the body was buried at sea within 24 hours of death, in accordance to Muslim tradition. At this time there are no known photographs that have been released.   Faked photos haven been circulating the Internet about 2 hours after the news of his death.   Some could be virus infected.   Click for more details.

There is no Osama Bin Laden suicide or any suicide photos, but one of the emails claiming to have the pictures is actually carrying a virus. The goal of the email is to trick recipients into clicking the attached file. That unleashes a Trojan Hose type virus that makes it possible for the virus writers to take over your computer and use it as a messenger for reaching other computers.  It is similar to the Anna Kournikova virus that circulated before this one and tried to lure recipients into clicking the file by offering nude photos. The folks at Sophos Anti-Virus classed it as VBS/Nedal-A and say it’s been around since 2002.  For more details, go to:

http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=description&virus_k=99686

In June, 2002, a corrupted version of this Osama Bin Laden warning started circulating along with a virus warning that is an old hoax.   It claimed that if you opened the attachment to the Osama Bin Laden email you would get a virus that will destroy your hard drive.  That is not true.  Then the eRumor also talks about an “Invitation” or “Olympic Torch” virus, which does not exist and is a hoax.

Updated 5/1/11