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| The Netsky worms are named after the Skynet
corporation from the movie The Terminator. |
Sophos researchers have warned users to be wary of a new
email-aware worm, W32/Netsky-D, which is
spreading via email disguised as a PIF file.
The Netsky-D worm arrives in an email using a variety of subject
names (including Re: Approved, Re: Details, Re: Document, Re: Your
letter, Re: Your picture) and attached file names (including
all_document.pif, application.pif, document.pif, your_letter.pif,
your_product.pif)
"Many users who are wary of EXE, SCR and VBS files which arrive
in their email may not realise that PIF files are equally capable
of being malicious," said Graham Cluley, senior technology
consultant for Sophos. "All users should be wary of any unsolicited
email attachment which arrives in their inbox. Ideally, all
businesses would proactively filter executable content at the
gateway, so it cannot reach tempted users."
In a bizarre payload, the Netsky-D worm beeps sporadically if
run on 2 March 2004 between 06:00 and 08:59. Sophos researchers
have also discovered that the worm contains a secret message hidden
inside its code: "be aware! Skynet.cz -
-->AntiHacker Crew<--"
Sophos recommends companies consider blocking all executable
code at their email gateway. It is rarely necessary to allow users
to receive programs via email from the outside world. There is so
little to lose, and so much to gain, simply by blocking all emailed
programs, regardless of whether they contain viruses or not.
Sophos is also warning users of five new variants of the
Bagle worm, which were released over the weekend.
"It's March madness," continued Cluley. "To avoid being hit by
one of these prevalent worms, users should be wary of any
unsolicited email which arrives in their inbox. Businesses can add
an extra layer of protection by proactively filtering out viruses
at the gateway."
Sophos PureMessage can block
unwanted code at the email gateway, helping to enforce a corporate
email policy.
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.