Trend Micro's TrendLabs catch dark forces at work on the Internet

The demise of the fictitious boy wizard is being reported by malware authors, who are spreading the rumour together with a malicious computer program. Potter fans who investigate the rumour run the risk of infecting their machines with a computer worm which Trend Micro detects as WORM_HAIRY.A.

This is not the first Harry Potter-related malware that TrendLabs, research arm of Trend Micro, has encountered recently. Just a couple of weeks ago an email promising free premiere tickets for the upcoming Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie was discovered to carry a Trojan. (A Trojan is a program which installs malicious software under the guise of doing something else.)

Each Harry Potter story follows twelve months in the life of a young sorcerer and his school, Hogwarts. Anticipation is at an all-time high, with the pending release of both a movie adaptation and the seventh and final novel in author J.K. Rowling's best-selling series. This massive interest makes "muggles" - non-magic folk, according to the books - into targets for computer crime.

Unfortunate individuals receiving this worm may find that a variety of "dark magic" begins to unfold. Their computers might start displaying a threatening message ("the end is near"). Without its owner's consent, a computer's browser can be redirected to a parodic knock-off called Harry Putter and the Chamber of Cheesecakes, in a bid to trick people into accidentally buying this spoof publication.

"Once again these malware authors exploit highly-anticipated events in order to spread their malicious codes to the public," Samir Kirouani, Senior Technical Engineer, Trend Micro Middle East and Africa.

"Harry Potter fans could just treat the news of his death as an ugly rumour, but they should definitely exercise caution and practice safe surfing when investigating such claims online," he added.