Ashley Greene pictures become latest malware threat

Malware writers are tricking users with the promise of Ashley Greene photos

PC users have been warned not to let their curiosity get the better of them after it emerged that hackers are yet again using a popular trending topic to spread malware.

This time the malware writers are jumping on the news that nude photos of Ashley Greene, star of teen film Twilight, were leaked onto the internet, leading to huge demand for the pics.

According to Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, hackers are posting links on internet message boards and forums which claim to point to the photos, but actually lead to malicious sites.

Some of the malware discovered, OSX/Jahlav-C, even allows the hacker to take control of the infected PC.

"Don't think that you escape if you're a Windows user. The webpage determines if you are visiting from a Windows or Mac computer and serves up the appropriate flavour of malware," said Cluley in a blog post.

"My advice is that, if you're a fan of Ashley Greene, go see her movies in the cinema or on DVD. Don't hunt for naked images of her on the internet."

The attacks follow similar attempts by hackers to exploit the news of leaked nude images of famous celebrities.

At the end of last month, hackers tried to lure users into downloading malware by promising to show the notorious peephole video of US sportscaster Erin Andrews.