Adobe Flash Download Hoax Contains Virus

WARNING:  Do not download the Adobe Flash Player from CNN or any other web site you reach by clicking on a link.

Another realistic-looking phishing email is making the rounds.  It purpors to be a news alert from CNN regarding an imminent cease-fire in the Israel-Gaza conflict.  Click on the link in the news alert and you go to a page that looks like a real CNN page with a real news story ... but it is not.

To see the "news story", you are to download the newest Adobe Flash Player.  Instead of the real player, it is a "Trojan horse" program designed to steal financial passwords and personal details.

"The scam is yet another example of how adept fraudsters are in engineering attacks with near real-time response to breaking news," says RSA Security in a blog posting. "It also underscores the opportunistic nature of fraud purveyors who increasingly prey upon public interest and/or concern regarding national or global events of broad importance."