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| The Yaha-Y worm disguises itself in a variety of
emails - including one which offers access to a porn website |
Sophos, a world leader in protecting businesses from virus and
spam, has warned of a new worm which uses a number of disguises,
including a security patch from Microsoft, a fix for the Blaster
worm and a crack for a porn website.
The W32/Yaha-Y
worm spreads via network shares and email. Emails sent by the worm
are randomly selected from a list contained inside the worm,
including the following:
Subject: Fix for the New Worm Threat
Message text: Dear customer, We are enclosing Fix for
W32.Blaster.Z as per your request.
Attached file: Fixblastz.zip
Subject: Critical Updates
Message text: Dear customer, Thanks for using Microsoft
products. Recent viruses have prompted microsoft to issue patches
to all its customers worldwide.
Attached file: MS-Q3526.com
Subject: Crack for Porn sites
Message text: Hi, This is a new crack for porn site. Please
download and check program. Bye.
Attached file: porncrack.zip
"In the old days virus writers resorted to naked
pictures of female film stars or tennis players with nice
legs to convince people to run their code," said Graham Cluley,
senior technology consultant for Sophos. "This time they are taking
advantage of computer users' security fears - although they
couldn't resist including the offer of a smutty website."
Sophos recommends that users ensure their anti-virus software is
kept up-to-date to protect against this latest threat, and that
patches are in place to secure against operating system
vulnerabilities.
"All users should be wary of unsolicited executable email
attachments. It is a favourite way for virus writers to spread
their unsavoury wares," continued Cluley.
The Yaha-Y worm also attempts to disable any anti-virus software
it finds running on the affected computer.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.