SECURITY FIRM Sophos has warned that an email doing the rounds and purporting to be written by the Dalai Lama has a malicious attachment.

The mail capitalises on news of more unrest in Burma with a spoof message of support from His Holiness to monks and other protestors.

Cunningly, the authors link to the real web site of the Dalai Lama but the attachment uses a Word vulnerability to download a Trojan.

"We saw it when the Pope died and with the Virginia Tech story - these people don’t care and they see unrest and tragedy as a way to make money," said Graham Cluley of Sophos.

"Ironically, people in Burma are using the internet to get news out and this message will confuse matters because it recommends people forward it on to others and takes advantage of human nature." µ