Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for anti-virus firm Sophos, said the latest Trojan dirty trick is the Michael Jackson home movies Trojan

Click here to read more about the Jackson home movies Trojan virus.

Thousands of postings to Internet newsgroups urged computer users to download a file supposedly containing pictures of Jackson and a young boy. In reality, no such photographs are present but the file can open up computers to attack from hackers, according to Sophos.

The distribution of the Trojan horse follows another attempt to hit Internet users with the Hackarmy Trojan horse last week with pictures claiming to show soccer star David Beckham in an off the field compromising position.

"Controversy has surrounded Michael Jackson for some years, and the sick minded hackers behind this latest Trojan horse are exploiting the public's interest in his Californian court battle," said Cluley. "Today, a lot of people seek breaking news online and may be at risk of falling for confidence tricks such as this. The message is simple -- don't trust everything you read on the Internet, and ensure you are not putting your computer and its data into danger."

Sophos continues to recommend computer users practice safe computing as well as running up-to-date anti-virus software. As for predictions in regard to the Hackarmy Trojan, Cluley said, “I fully expect Trojans to continue to be distributed using a variety of social engineering disguises. It's human nature to always be interested in the lives of celebrities in the spotlight and that's why we've seen a stream of pop stars and the like being used as bait by the Trojan authors.”

Will these latest attacks push more users away from Windows? Cluley said it was doubtful, “I am skeptical as to whether this will be enough for people to start switching on a major scale from Windows to other operating systems. There are lots of costs associated with switching OS, and many people who have grown up with Windows would be loath to learn a new operating system and purchase a new suite of applications to run on it.”