Twilight's Latest Hacking: Vampire Byte Scam Targets Stephanie Meyer Fans

Scareware masquerading as an interview with Twilight author Stephanie Meyer is making the rounds, and fast. Time to pass the word to any of your employees who are Twilight-obsessed and, more importantly, have them pass the word to their kids who may well be chasing the phenomenon on the same computers their parents may use for work-at-home.They say you have to invite a vampire to cross your threshold. Scareware writers are counting on a lot kids doing just that.

Don't know how many of your employees, on-site or off, are Twilight-obsessed, but odds are that there are a few, and the odds are even higher -- a lot higher -- that employees with teenagers have Twilight fans in the house.

Those fans are the latest target the cybercrooks are sinking their fangs into, and they're doing it with e-mails and other come-ons for what appears to be an interview with series author Stephanie Meyer. A variation offers a phony chance to watch the new Twilight movie online.

They're not legit of course, any more than Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart are normal teenagers.

What they are are pretty sophisticated spears (stakes?) aimed at the hearts of Twilight fans so eager for another drop of media-hyped blood that they'll click on anything.

Click on these, kids, and you get a trojan, then a come-on for a security check.

We talk a lot about what your employees need to know about scams and crimeware, but it's worth remembering that most employees have homes and families, and some of those family are likely to be using the same machines your employees for work.

The Twilight scams are simply more prominent reminders that everybody who has access to a computer that may have access to your business information and networks should be as careful about security as you expect people on your payroll to be.