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ALERT / MSN Messenger invaded by new worm
Posted by
PEGASUS
20 Jan 2005 6:15pm
MSN Messenger invaded by new worm
Open IM windows on the desktop are vulnerable
By Paul Roberts, IDG News Service
January 20, 2005
A new computer worm is using Microsoft's (Profile, Products, Articles) MSN
Messenger instant message network to spread on the Internet, according to
antivirus software companies.
Bropia.A was first spotted on Wednesday and spreads by sending copies of
itself to an MSN Messenger user's instant message (IM) contacts. When the
worm is launched, it installs a Trojan horse program, Rbot, on vulnerable
machines, according to alerts from F-Secure and Symantec (Profile, Products,
Articles).
Windows machines running MSN Messenger and have a Messenger window open on
the desktop are vulnerable to infection. F-Secure (Profile, Products,
Articles) and Symantec rated Bropia a low threat, based on the number of
reports of infected machines, and issued virus definition updates that allow
their products to spot the new IM worm.
While previous IM worms spread by sending links to worm files embedded in IM
messages, Bropia spreads by sending commands to Messenger that cause the
program to send copies of the worm file directly to the infected user's IM
contacts.The Bropia worm is also able to monitor Messenger for any change to
a user's IM contacts and send worm files to contacts as they log on to the
IM network, Symantec said.
When the worm file is launched, Bropia copies itself to the hard drive of
the infected machine, disguised as a file with one of several names,
including:'Drunk_lol.pif', 'Webcam_004.pif', 'sexy_bedroom.pif',
'naked_party.pif' or 'love_me.pif.'
The worm also disables a user's right mouse button to prevent users from
accessing context sensitive menus, and to alter the Windows sound mixer
volume settings, F-Secure said.
The Trojan horse program that is installed by Bropia, which F-Secure
referred to as Rbot, and Symantec as W32.Spybot.worm, opens a back door into
infected Windows systems and has features that log user keystrokes, collect
vital system information and relay spam, F-Secure said.
IM worms are not a new concept, and computer virus researchers have
frequently warned of their potential to spread quickly across global IM
networks such as those run by Microsoft, Yahoo Inc. and America Online
(Profile, Products, Articles) Inc.
In August, researchers at PivX Solutions Inc. of Newport Beach, California,
intercepted a version of the Scob worm that used mass-distributed instant
messages to lure Internet users to Web sites that distribute malicious code
similar to Download.ject.
Symantec and F-Secure advised customers to update their antivirus software
definitions to spot the new worm.
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