'Porn' worm sent to 50,000 after Google blunder

Google on Tuesday inadvertently sent the Kama Sutra email worm to the 50,000 subscribers of a Google Video email group.

Three postings were made on Tuesday evening to an email list that sends out postings to the Google Video blog. In a note on its website apologising for the incident, Google said: "Some of these posts may have contained a virus called W32/Kapser.A@mm - a mass-mailing worm."

W32/Kapser.A is better known as the Kama Sutra worm. Some antivirus companies raised an alarm about the threat in February but it ultimately shrivelled. Kama Sutra was designed to overwrite files on infected computers on a specific date. However, the worm, which spread under the guise of pornographic content, caused virtually no damage.

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Google advises people who may have received the worm in email or downloaded it from the group's website to run an antivirus program to remove it. The company is taking steps to make sure it doesn't make the same mistake again, it said.

The Google Video email group is open to anyone. It had 50,025 subscribers as of Wednesday afternoon. The contents are advertised as interesting and fun videos from Google Video.

Joris Evers writes for CNET News.com