Experts at SophosLabs™, Sophos's global
network of virus, spyware and spam analysis centers, have advised
users not to panic over a new version of the Bagle worm which poses
as a message offering free tickets to the Winter Olympics in
Turin.
The W32/Bagle-CM spyware worm
spreads attached to emails using subject lines such as:
FREE OLYMPIC TICKETS LOTTERY!
2006 Winter Games in Torino
2006 Torino Winter Games FREE Tickets
with attached file names including:
Generated_bill.exe
Order_details.exe
Service_receipt.exe
The body of the email claims to come from a company selling
tickets for the games in Turin, Italy, including Olympic final
events. But if the attached file is run, the worm can steal
information from the computer and allow hackers to gain remote
access.
"This latest incarnation of the Bagle worm is hiding behind the
flag of the Winter Olympics in an attempt to infect the unwary. But
sensible precautions and a spoonful of common sense should ensure
that no-one needs to have their computer struck down," said
Graham Cluley,
senior technology consultant for Sophos. "Companies are best
protected by automating their anti-virus protection and putting a
policy in place at their email gateway to block unsolicited
executable code from the outside world."
Despite its sporting camouflage, the Bagle-CM worm is not
currently spreading in large numbers. Sophos has been protecting
businesses against the W32/Bagle-CM worm since 01:33 GMT on 14
February 2006.
The Bagle-CM worm also attempts to spread via P2P file-sharing
systems as nude pictures of actress Kate Beckinsale, or erotic
content related to hotel chain heiress Paris Hilton and pop starlet
Britney Spears.
Companies are recommended to protect their email with a consolidated solution to thwart the virus, spyware
and spam threats and secure their desktops and servers with
automatically updated anti-virus protection.
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.