Today's world is a dangerous one, andmany of us like to stay informed. It's been said that nearly halfof all individuals with internet access get their news online, andgiven that the majority of those with access use e-mail as well, it?sno wonder that so many find headlines delivered to their inbox ahelpful idea. Unfortunately, however, having news headlines deliveredto your inbox may actually harm your computer.



In early August, thousands of e-mailusers began receiving deliveries to their inboxes with headlines like"CNN.com Daily Top 10", "CNN Alerts: Breaking News"and "MSNBC.com Breaking News" in their subject lines.Because of the overwhelming temptation to get the news convenientlyvia e-mail, many of those users chose to open those same e-mails,thus unleashing rogue programs that have damaged machines on aworldwide basis.

Why Shouldn't I Click? I TrustThese Sites

It's unfortunate. Many people dotrust respected names like CNN and MSNBC in the world of news. Afterall, they're the corporate news giants many people have grown uphearing. Unfortunately, none of these e-mails were sent by these newsgiants. Instead, they were created to ensure malware might bedownloaded to your machine, thus opening security holes for otherprograms to filter through.

One study suggested that 250 million ofthese CNN e-mails were sent in just one day. Another one said 2.5million of these MSNBC e-mails were transmitted every hour on a givenday.

What's the Real Danger?

Opening one of these e-mails canseriously harm your computer. It downloads a file calledadobe_flash.exe, which is actually a Trojan. Most sources have saidit is the Trojan ?EncPk-DA? or ?Exchanger.mn.? Either way,once installed on your machine, you'll be connected to anotherserver to ensure other rogue programs are installed on your computer,putting you in a very sticky situation.

What Do I Look For?

Whether you're getting the CNNversion or the MSNBC version, all of these fake news e-mails have avery convincing subject line and a fairly official format. In the CNNe-mails, the subject line says something like ?CNN Alert: My CustomAlert? or ?CNN.com Daily Top Ten.? The Daily Top Ten e-mailwill proceed to list the ten most popular stories on the site.Clicking on any one of them will send you to a fake link which willask you to install a file so you can view the story. Clicking ?Yes?will install the Trojan on your computer.

In the case of the MSNBC e-mails,you'll see a subject line that says something like ?MSNBC.com ?BREAKING NEWS? followed by a stunning headline. Here are just a fewthat have been noticed over the past month:

McCain told liesto win votes

Abortion madeillegal in New York

Tiger Woods totake a 2 year break from golf

I will be suingyou

Bomb scaregrounds thousands of flights at UK Heathrow airport

Onceyou open the MSNBC version, you'll see a very official lookinge-mail that looks something like the below:

Find out more athttp://breakingnews.msnbc.com

=======================================================

Seethe top news of the day at MSNBC.com, and the latest from Today Showand NBC Nightly News.

=========================================

Thise-mail is never sent unsolicited. You have received this MSNBCBreaking News Newsletter

newsletter because yousubscribed to it or, someone forwarded it to you.

To remove yourself from the list (or to add yourself to the listif this

message was forwarded to you) simply goto

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25384336, selectunsubscribe, enter the

email address receivingthis message, and click the Go button.

Microsoft Corporation - One Microsoft Way - Redmond, WA 98052

MSNPRIVACY STATEMENT

http://privacy.msn.com(http://privacy.msn.com/)

Clicking on any of the links, ofcourse, takes you to a site that then installs the Trojan. Once youclick, you get a message about your flash player. It will ask you ifyou want to install the file, and if you say yes, you've justinvited the Trojan on to your computer.

Monitoring Your System

If you think you may have opened one ofthese e-mails, there are a few ways to tell. First, you?reimmediately going to notice a slow down in your system processes.Remember, you've opened several security holes by clicking on thate-mail, and it's a bit like opening the flood gates. Your computeris literally being taken over by other programs, so there's verylittle room to run your web browser or even your word processingprogram.

Additionally, you may notice a programcalled Antivirus XP 2008 has been installed on your computer. Becausethis is a rogue antispyware program, you will probably see fake scansof your machine and frightening messages suggesting that you?vebeen infected with malware. They will all suggest that the only wayto get rid of it is to purchase and download the full version of theprogram.

You may also notice that your desktopbackground looks a bit different. It is now probably a warningmessage about your computer's numerous infections. It may even saythat you can no longer change your desktop background because of thenumber of infections on your computer.

What Do I Do If I Opened One?

If you did open one, and you?venoticed the signs above, there is something you can do about it. Manypeople believe that simply running their currently installed virussoftware will solve the problem if one of these SPAM e-mails hasopened security holes in your system. Regrettably, this is simply notthe case. The programs one of these e-mails may have downloaded toyour computer are not viruses in most instances. As a result, youranti virus solution, even if it's been properly updated, will notbe able to remove the traces of these programs from your system. Thebest thing to do if you have opened one of these e-mails is to runyour anti spyware program. If you have yet to invest in a reputableanti spyware program, now is the time to do so. Solutions that helpto tackle rogue programs and other kinds of threats to your machine,reputable anti spyware programs should be part of your computer?ssecurity system.

Before you purchase any anti spywareprogram, though, carefully research your options. Talk withcolleagues as well as friends and family members about the softwarethey have chosen. Research each of their selections carefully, andevaluate each program to ensure that it will function as you need itto. Purchase the one that you think the best selection for you,download it, and scan your machine. It should remove any problemfiles immediately, and as long as you update it frequently and scanyour machine on a regular basis, problems like these e-mails willbecome a thing of the past quickly.