A new version of the Storm e-mail virus is populating blogs and online bulletin boards with links directing people to a Web site that is propagating the worm, representing a new mode of attack for hackers seeking financial gain, according to a security vendor that became aware of the virus Monday night.

The Storm Worm attacks in December and January used infected e-mails to hijack personal computers and add them to “bot-nets,” networks of infected computers used by hackers to distribute spam and viruses.

Within the past day, a variation of this virus was found to be using infected computers to place malicious links on various Web sites, according to Secure Computing, a messaging security vendor based in San Jose, Calif.

If your computer is infected, the virus can add malicious text to any message you post to a blog or bulletin board. The text says, “Have you seen this?” and is followed by a URL containing the phrases “freepostcards” and “funvideo.”

“The new thing about this virus is the way it propagates. It’s basically filling up Web pages all over the Internet with links to the malware,” says Dmitri Alperovitch, principal research scientist for Secure Computing.

A Google search on Tuesday afternoon located 71 sites containing the link, including message boards hosted by the Salt Lake Tribune and a site about Australian pythons and snakes.

Clicking on the link causes the virus to be downloaded to the user’s computer. “It turns you into a zombie. Your computer is now under full control under the criminal that is in control of this bot-net,” Alperovitch says.

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