Virus authors reportedly planted malicious code on Paris Hilton's website late last week.

Following the attack, surfers visiting the ParisHilton.com site were prompted to install an "update" via a dialogue box. Whether they accepted this update or decided to "cancel" it, a download of a malicious executable was initiated, according to internet reports.

The attack was reportedly used to serve up the Trojan-Spy.Zbot.YETH Trojan, a rootkit trojan designed to steal online banking information and to allow the download of other malicious code.

The assault was detected by web security firm ScanSafe on 9 January but cleansed by Tuesday morning, according to net security firm Sophos, hours after news of the assault broke.

The type of attack thrown against ParisHilton.com is similar to a recent attack on MLB.com, the Major League Baseball website, and the self-explanatory sexy-celeb-photos.com. Each of these assaults was much more in your face than traditional drive-by download attacks, but they also stemmed from the same underlying cause - website vulnerabilities left open to abuse by hackers.

Over the years the hapless Hilton has become a serial victim of various computer hacking and security attacks. Four years ago the notable heiress and airhead was unfortunate enough to suffer from a hack against her T-Mobile account which resulted in the leak of messages, contact details and photos.

Last March another hacker gained access to private pictures after breaking into her Facebook account. And just days ago, messages from a faked LinkedIn profile ostensibly maintained by Ms Hilton pointed to malicious downloads. ®