Britney Spears was back in the headlines today – but not for marital troubles, custody battles or outrageous antics.
Britney was a topic du jour of information security bloggers. Why? Cyberattacks are trying to lure unsuspecting web users to malicious sites by claiming to have racy photos of the former Mrs. Federline, all to infect innocent PCs with malware.

To do this, the bad guys are assuming home users have the pre-partyhopping-with-Paris version of Britney on their minds more than yesterday’s emergency ANI patch for Windows.

Roger Thompson, the CTO and research chief at Exploit Prevention Labs, has been keeping a vigil on ANI developments in recent days, saying “most” of the exploits are using Britney lures.

Believe it or not, it’s not the first time Britney’s graced the (web)pages of SCMagazine.com. A 2005 study by Panda Labs reported that she was the image most used to spread malware, and she’s popped up as a cover for trojans, worms and rootkits since.

So, are cybercriminals and malicious hackers obsessed with Britney Spears? Think of them as paparazzi interested in stealing personal information.