[Adam Turner sitting in for Patrick Gray]
Evildoers recently edited an article on the German edition of Wikipedia to include a link to malicious code, disguised as a "fix" for an alleged new version of the Blaster worm. They then sent spam, supposedly from Wikipedia, directing people to the page for more details on the bogus Blaster variant.

You can't believe everything you read on Wikipedia - who would have guessed?

Of course this event is all over the news, but the only surprise here is that it took so long for someone to do it. The price of fame is high on the internet, as sites like Wikipedia and YouTube have discovered of late. Apart from the constant bashing in the media, you also become a target for those up to no good. Of course their task is made easier by the fact that people are stupid. Have you ever had an email from Wikipedia before? Do you think Wikipedia bothers to send email alerts every time there's a virus? These are questions anyone with half a brain would ask before believing such an email but, sadly, having even half a brain is not a pre-requisite for using a computer. As is often the case, the weakest link in the security system isn't the hardware or the software but the wetwear sitting at the keyboard.

If only you could issue firmware updates for users, the world would be a safer place.