Hackers aren't completely evil, said Matthew Hines in eWeek. By hiding malware in phony links to the Erin Andrews video peep clips, they discouraged legions of drooling Internet users from trying to download the illegal footage. The peephole footage—showing the lovely ESPN reporter naked in a hotel room—was a gross invasion of privacy, but a lot more people would have seen it if malware distributors hadn't scared them off.
"Anyone who searches for the video now is likely to get infected," said Alex Goldman in Internet News. Malware purveyors have set up infected websites offering links to the nude Erin Andrews video peep clips, and they appear legitimate—including "a skilled knockoff of CNN.com." Some of the sites, according to Internet security specialist Sophos, have installed the OSX/Jahlav-C Trojan horse on Macintosh computers, and several different viruses on Windows PCs, including Mal/EncPk-IF, a piece of malware, and Mal/FakeAV-AY, a rogue anti-virus system."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Why ghost guns are so easy to make — and so dangerousThe Explainer Untraceable, DIY firearms are a growing public health and safety hazard
-
The Week contest: Swift stimulusPuzzles and Quizzes
-
'It's hard to resist a sweet deal on a good car'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
