Spammers are exploiting the fight for democracy in Burma to spread malware, according to recent reports.

The surge of media interest in Burma, or Myanmar as the ruling generals prefer, has led spammers to attempt to build up botnets.

Emails have been spammed out purportedly from the Dalai Lama containing 'information' about the protests, in which Buddhist monks have been killed for requesting the right to democracy in their own country.

'Dear Friends & Colleagues, Please find enclosed a massage [sic] from His Holiness the Dalai Lama in support of the recent pro democracy demonstrations taking place in Burma. This is for your information and can be distributed as you see fit,' the email states.

The message contains an attachment that looks like a Microsoft Word document but in fact harbours a Trojan that will give the hacker full access to the user's computer.

"People around the world are hungry to hear about the latest situation in Burma, and may be tempted to read this so-called letter from the Dalai Lama," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.

"Using topical news stories to trick unwary users into opening and downloading malicious code is one of the oldest tricks in the book, but it is obviously still working or the hackers would not waste their time on it.

"We should all use our common sense and question the legitimacy of emails sent out of the blue."