Internet users alarmed over news of Michael Jackson's death or dark conspiracies behind the demise of Pope John Paul II should perhaps just be worried that they received another new e-mail worm.

Researchers at security firm Sophos Tuesday warned of the spread of the Kedebe-F e-mail worm, which carries a variety of subject headers and messages touting breaking news. However, users who click on the attached file could have their security software and firewall disabled, according to Sophos.

Possible messages include "someone sent me this document which is stolen from a secret government body ... about John Paul's death." Other messages try to entice recipients into opening the attached file by claiming Michael Jackson has died, Osama bin Laden has been captured by U.S. soldiers or the MyDoom e-mail worm author has been arrested by Microsoft, Sophos said.

Using supposed "breaking news" to persuade users to open a message and click on an attachment is a long -favored method among virus writers, according to Sophos Senior Technology Consultant Graham Cluley.

"This is a fairly common trick. It doesn't take Albert Einstein to think this one up," Cluley said.

Although the worm is currently slow-spreading Cluley flagged it as an example of the kinds of social-engineered threats that users should watch out for.

The worm spreads via e-mail or peer-to-peer file sharing networks. It appears to be targeted at both news hounds and geeks, with mentions of the MyDoom worm, Cluley said. Also, it spreads on peer-to-peer networks by copying itself to the directory for sharing information on the server, purporting to be source code for the Sasser worm.

Users are advised to update their anti-virus software against the threat.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.