You are here: silicon.com > Software > Malware

Malware

First worm of the year?

"Happy New Year" - from Trojan

Tags: new year, worm, trojan

By Marguerite Reardon

Published: 2 January 2007 08:40 GMT

An email worm disguised as a New Year's greeting is making the rounds on the internet.

Worm-laden messages are titled "Happy New Year" and contain an attachment called either postcard.exe or postcard.zip, according to experts at VeriSign's iDefense Labs, which provides information on security flaws and exploits. If the attachment is opened, malicious software is downloaded from the internet and can infect computers running Windows operating systems.

Once a computer is infected, it looks for open mail proxies and begins spamming mail to infect other computers. The worm is already moving quickly across the net, at a rate of five emails per second on at least one large network, according to the iDefense Labs website.

Security experts say that although the virus looks similar to the Warezov Trojan horse that has plagued the web for the past month, it is actually a new variant of the worm and has been largely undetected as of 28 December. iDefense performed a triage analysis of the threat and found more than a dozen codes were installed on a computer from several worm and Trojan horse families. More than 160 email servers are used by the worm to send out spam to potential victims, the company said.

High volumes of mass emails are usually sent around the holidays. This year has been no different, according to experts. The spike in holiday spam is largely attributed to the fact people have been more likely to open the messages.

Consumers have been shopping online more, desperate for gift ideas. They have also been expecting electronic greeting cards from friends and family. Malicious spammers have been able to exploit this expectation by designing Trojan horses that can fool unsuspecting users.

Antivirus software maker McAfee issued several advisories over the holidays, warning customers to be wary of such Trojans. Last week it cautioned users about a malicious email attachment named Christmas+Blessing-4.ppt that installs software enabling attackers to remotely access a compromised computer.

Like many Trojans, the "Happy New Year" worm is not recognised by all virus scanners, so users should be extremely cautious when opening email attachments, experts said.

Marguerite Reardon writes for CNET News.com

  1. Zones
  2. Management
  3. Networks
  4. Software
  5. IT Services
  6. Hardware
  1. Verticals
  2. Public Sector
  3. Financial Services
  4. Retail & Leisure

Clive Longbottom Windows 7: Not perfect - but ready for prime time Microsoft's latest OS fixes most of Vista's ills - but still has challenges ahead

Stephen Kleynhans Mind the details with Windows 7 Just because it might work better than Vista, it doesn't mean you can be sloppy


  • Jobs
BSF - Service Desk Analyst - Leeds

Customers will be school staff rather than IT experts so the ability to talk in layman? A good understanding of computers as well as associated ...

Symantec Security Consultant, Symantec Endpoint, SEE, Cisco, London

You must be technically strong in the following technology: "Symantec End Point (SEP) or Symantec Anti Virus (SAV) and OR Symantec End Point ...

Security Consultant (Symantec SEP, SEE, SAV)

Salary: GBP35,000-GBP41,000 Dependant on experience Benefits: 20 days holiday + Bank Holidays + 3 extra days performance related ROLE: Primarily the ...

Agenda Setters 2009
Welcome to the ninth annual Agenda Setters poll – silicon.com's list of the top 50 most influential individuals in the technology and IT industries, from techies and CIOs to entrepreneurs and business leaders. Find out more in our latest special report.





Quick Sitemap Links: