MANILA, Philippines - Cybercriminals are exploiting the death of pop legend Michael Jackson by distributing various applications through spam and bots.

Software security firms Sophos and TrendLabs have so far identified two types of Michael Jackson exploits.

Sophos identified a wave of spam just eight hours after Jackson’s death was officially announced by the media.

Graham Cluley, Sophos senior technology consultant, said in his blog that the creators f the spam messages claimed they have information on the death of
Jackson.

While there were no phishing link within the email, replying to it would provide the spam creator the unsuspecting person’s email, which can be later on used to send spam or other malicious applications hidden at attachments.

Cluley also reported similar malware activities following the earlier death of 70’s TV icon Farrah Fawcett.

Likewise, TrendLabs in a statement said links to alleged pictures of Jackson’s “final moments” were being posted on MSN’s Instant Messenger.

TrendLabs Senior Threat Researcher Loucif Kharouni warned that clicking on these unknown links would be prompted to download a variant of the SDBOT malware. Compromised PCs will start downloading other files from the source of the malware.

Both software security firms warn the public not to be tricked into clicking unknown emails or links that may be disguised as information about current events.