Virus writers launch Paris Hilton worm

Users hoping to see x-rated footage of Paris Hilton may get more than they bargained for, with an anti-virus firm warning about worms masquerading as video clips.

Sophos has warned that the Sober-K and Ahker-C worms can look like they are x-rated videos, with subject lines referring to Paris Hilton.

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, said that it was no surprise virus writers had tried to use Paris Hilton as bait, given the huge interest in the celebrity.

"It's an old trick but sadly it still often works -- disguise your worm as hardcore porn and there are likely to be some computer users who will throw common sense out of the window and launch the dangerous file," Cluley said.

The discovery of the worms came on the same day as reports that hackers had broken into Paris Hilton's mobile phone address book, according to a statement from Sophos.

According to the company, the Sober-K worm was spreading in the wild. It bulk mails itself using subject lines such as 'Paris Hilton, pure!' and 'Paris Hilton SexVideos'.

Emails containing the Ahker-C worm also mention the celebrity, using subject lines such as 'Paris Hilton...download it!', with an attached file called 'ParisXXX.zip'.