Users warned of 'Michael Jackson' email virus

BEIJING, July 3 (Xinhuanet) -- Computer security firm Sophos warned Thursday that an virus is floating around the Internet and told people not to open an email claiming to contain secret songs and photos of Michael Jackson.

The email has a subject line of "Remembering Michael Jackson" and is sent from "sarah@michaeljackson.com," Sophos said in a statement sent by its Asia office in Singapore.

According to Sophos, the email tells recipients that an attached file titled "Michael songs and pictures.zip" contains secret songs and photos of the pop music icon, who died of a heart attack in the United States on June 25.

Sophos advised users not to open the email.

"By opening the attachment, computer users are exposed to infection. Once infected, a computer will begin automatically spreading the worm onto other Internet users," Sophos said.

Sophos said the virus is also capable of spreading as an Autorun component on USB memory sticks.