Erin Andrews Peephole Video Links on Internet Likely Contain Viruses

Image: Wikimedia Commons Computer hackers inadvertently came to the rescue of ESPN sportscasting hottie Erin Andrews, scaring off would-be voyeurs from downloading a peeping Tom's video because of a threat of computer viruses. Confession: We found this out on the Internet while searching for the video. Not that we ever would have downloaded...

By Ray Stern

July 22, 2009

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Image: Wikimedia Commons

Computer hackers inadvertently came to the rescue of ESPN sportscasting hottie Erin Andrews, scaring off would-be voyeurs from downloading a peeping Tom's video because of a threat of computer viruses.

Confession: We found this out on the Internet while searching for the video.

Not that we ever would have downloaded it (which might be illegal, anyway). But if we had, Web reports suggest the file could have been loaded with virus-type programs like Mal/EncPk-IF.

According to sites like Infoworld.com, some sites claim you can see the scandalous Andrews video by first downloading a video player. But if you do that, evil software will check to see if you're using a Mac or PC and customize an attack.

The actual video was removed from legit Web sites after Andrews threatened to sue.

Ironically, this is a case where the SOBs who write viruses and other malware actually look like good guys -- the potential of catching a computer bug has reportedly slowed the spread of the invasive video.

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Ray Stern is the former news editor of Phoenix New Times. He worked as a newspaper reporter in Arizona for more than two decades. He's won numerous awards for his reporting, including the Arizona Press Club's Don Bolles Award for Investigative Journalism.