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| The Netsky worms are named after the Skynet
corporation from the movie The Terminator. |
Anti-virus experts at Sophos have discovered that the creators
of the Netsky and Bagle worms, both of which have spread widely
across the internet in a number of different guises, are engaged in
an internet skirmish.
The author of the Bagle worms has encoded a number of abusive messages inside
recent variants of his creation, attacking the Netsky worm's
creator.
Meanwhile, the W32/Netsky-F worm is
designed to remove infections of the W32/Bagle-A, W32/Bagle-B (also known as
W32/Tanx-A), W32/Bagle-C, W32/Bagle-D, W32/Bagle-E, W32/Bagle-F, W32/Bagle-G, W32/Bagle-H, and W32/Bagle-I worms if it
finds them whilst spreading. Sophos believes that the author of
Bagle is unlikely to be able to resist responding to this assault
against his virus.
Many new versions of the two worms have appeared in the last few
days, clogging up business email systems as companies attempt to
deal with the flood of unwanted messages.
"The two worm authors are goading each other with taunts and
malicious code to release more powerful versions of their viruses,"
said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "We
believe both authors may have access to an underground network
consisting of thousands of compromised computers owned by innocent
users, which are being exploited to launch every new version of
their worms. All computer users should ensure that their PCs are
properly protected with up-to-date anti-virus software and firewall
protection; it's not just a good idea for your own personal data's
safety, but responsible behaviour for any member of the internet
community."
Sophos recommends companies automatically update their corporate virus
protection, and filter attachments which may contain malicious code
at the email gateway.
Further reading:Simple steps to protect against
viruses
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