An email sent to dozens of diplomats at the 2011 G-20 summit in Paris promised nude pictures of former French first lady Carla Bruni, and many of the diplomats took the bait, it emerged Thursday.
“To see naked pictures of Carla Bruni click here,” the email read. Once the diplomats clicked the links, they were opened up to an embedded virus called a “Trojan Horse,” which then forwarded the message to other recipients, the U.K.’s Independent reported.
“Almost everybody who received the email took the bait,” a government source in Paris told the Daily Telegraph.
Some representatives who fell for the email were from the Czech Republic, Portugal, Bulgaria, Hungary and Latvia, the source said.
The attack originated in China and is believed to still be ongoing, The Independent reported.
The British government announced new cybersecurity measures on Thursday that requires companies wanting to do business with the government to meet a new “kitemark,” intended to prepare U.K. businesses against online attacks, The Telegraph reported.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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