New Twilight book raises fears of PDF attacks

Careless Twilight fans could be bitten by a malware bug

The release of a new novella in the Twilight series could spark a malware outbreak, according to security experts.

Security vendor PC Tools issued a warning in advance of the release of Stephenie Meyer's The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner. A digital version of the book is scheduled for release on 7 June.

PC Tools warned that the latest book could find its way onto the web as a PDF file which could be compromised to contain malicious JavaScript code designed to infect users with malware.

The threat of 'poisoned' e-book files has increased with the growth of reader tablets and other devices which can be used to read digital titles.

"They will exploit online searches to find ways to infect computers with malware and new threats," PC Tools said. "Eager fans searching for early sneak peeks will also be targeted."

The company urges users to download the title only from trusted sources, scan all downloads before launching and be wary of supposed e-books which come as executable files.