25 Jun 2003
"Punk" worm pays tribute to The Offspring: Pretty sly from a virus guy, says Sophos
Sophos has received several reports of the new punk-themed
W32/Magold-D
worm, first seen on Monday 23rd June. Users infected by Magold-D
are complaining that the slogan 'PUNK'S NOT DEAD =:-)' is appearing
on their screens. The worm - which spreads by email, internet relay
chat, network shares and peer-to-peer file sharing platforms - also
automatically opens up the website of The Offspring, the US's
premier skater punks, whose chart successes include 'Pretty fly for
a white guy'.
In order to encourage users to run the infected attachment, the
virus writer falsely claims that it includes video footage of a
female contestant on a popular Hungarian reality TV show taking a
shower.
"This tribute to The Offspring is a far cry from pinning posters
to your bedroom wall or playing air guitar in front of your
mirror," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant, Sophos
Anti-Virus. "But rather than using the sexual allure of these
rockers to entice users into double-clicking on the infected
attachment, the virus writer has opted for the age-old trick of
promising female nudity."
"The good news is Magold-D is easy to spot as its subject line
is pure gobbledygook to those who don't speak Hungarian. To prevent
infection, businesses are reminded to block executable files at the
email gateway and to keep their anti-virus protection up-to-date,"
continued Cluley.
About Sophos
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy and use and that deliver the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs - a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.