Fantasy football virus kicks off By Dawn Kawamoto Staff Writer, CNET News.com
http://news.com.com/Fantasy+football+virus+kicks+off/2100-7349_3-6069814.html?tag=nefd.top A new Excel virus is targeting fantasy soccer league fans, luring them with an offer of worksheets to track the performance of their team. The XF97/Yagnuul-A virus can infect users' .XLS spreadsheets once the attachment is opened. The virus deploys an infected fantasy league file on the infected computer’s hard drive and may also modify users' data, according to a report Monday by security firm Sophos. "Fantasy football-like leagues have been set up in offices across the country, and fans often keep track of how well they are doing by using Excel spreadsheets," Graham Cluley, Sophos senior technology consultant, said in a statement. "Every computer user needs to take great care not to fall foul of malware like the Yagnuul virus." The virus relies on social engineering to entice users to open the attachment, said Ron O'Brien, a Sophos senior security analyst. He added that fantasy league players often do not know each other and, as a result, are prone to opening attachments from strangers who claim to be a league member. Yagnuula, however, is currently a low risk virus because a number of security firms have deployed antivirus software to contain it, O'Brien noted. Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _____________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list medianews@twiar.org To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
