Today’s world is a dangerous one, and many of us like to stay informed. It’s been said that nearly half of all individuals with internet access get their news online, and given that the majority of those with access use e-mail as well, it’s no wonder that so many find headlines delivered to their inbox a helpful idea. Unfortunately, however, having news headlines delivered to your inbox may actually harm your computer.

In early August, thousands of e-mail users began receiving deliveries to their inboxes with headlines like "CNN.com Daily Top 10", "CNN Alerts: Breaking News" and "MSNBC.com Breaking News" in their subject lines. Because of the overwhelming temptation to get the news conveniently via e-mail, many of those users chose to open those same e-mails, thus unleashing rogue programs that have damaged machines on a worldwide basis.

Why Shouldn’t I Click? I Trust These Sites
It’s unfortunate. Many people do trust respected names like CNN and MSNBC in the world of news. After all, they’re the corporate news giants many people have grown up hearing. Unfortunately, none of these e-mails were sent by these news giants. Instead, they were created to ensure malware might be downloaded to your machine, thus opening security holes for other programs to filter through.

One study suggested that 250 million of these CNN e-mails were sent in just one day. Another one said 2.5 million of these MSNBC e-mails were transmitted every hour on a given day.

What’s the Real Danger?
Opening one of these e-mails can seriously harm your computer. It downloads a file called adobe_flash.exe, which is actually a Trojan. Most sources have said it is the Trojan "EncPk-DA" or "Exchanger.mn." Either way, once installed on your machine, you’ll be connected to another server to ensure other rogue programs are installed on your computer, putting you in a very sticky situation.

What Do I Look For?
Whether you’re getting the CNN version or the MSNBC version, all of these fake news e-mails have a very convincing subject line and a fairly official format. In the CNN e-mails, the subject line says something like "CNN Alert: My Custom Alert" or "CNN.com Daily Top Ten." The Daily Top Ten e-mail will proceed to list the ten most popular stories on the site. Clicking on any one of them will send you to a fake link which will ask you to install a file so you can view the story. Clicking "Yes" will install the Trojan on your computer.

In the case of the MSNBC e-mails, you’ll see a subject line that says something like "MSNBC.com – BREAKING NEWS" followed by a stunning headline. Here are just a few that have been noticed over the past month:

McCain told lies to win votes
Abortion made illegal in New York
Tiger Woods to take a 2 year break from golf
I will be suing you
Bomb scare grounds thousands of flights at UK Heathrow airport

Once you open the MSNBC version, you’ll see a very official looking e-mail that looks something like the below:

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