Yesterday I received an error-message of a SMTP-server
of a large US-provider that contained a mail with my
e-mail-address as sender address I never sent.
Apparently my e-mail-address was forged to send
very questionable spam mails.

An analysis of this e-mail shows that the forged e-mail
was apparently sent by a computer of a fellow
amateur astronomer in France, that was infected by a
computer virus.

His computer is infected by the Sober.H computer virus
that tries to mass-mail rascist spam mails to any e-mail-address
it finds on the infected computer.

Besides it apparently uses some of those e-mail-adresses
as forged sender adresses. This feature is unfortunetly
not fully known yet.

I notified the owner of the infected computer immediately
but I didn't get an answer and it might be possible that
hundreds or even thousands of such e-mails are sent to
amateur astronomers in France, Germany and the United States.

In any case I am not the author of those e-mails.
Please ignore such e-mails.

You can find some information about the Sober.H virus
he

http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/anal...rojsoberh.html
http://www.lesinfos.com/f/36/news35612.htm