Security news28 January 2002
My party worm gatecrashes PCs
It's my party and I'll infect if I want to...
Sophos, a world leader in corporate anti-virus protection, is warning computer users against the new My Party email worm (aka W32/MyParty-A) which is spreading in the wild.
The worm, which may appear to have come from a colleague or friend, arrives as an email with the subject line 'new photos from my party!'.
The message reads: 'Hello! My party...It was absolutely amazing! I have attached my web page with new photos! If you can please make color prints of my photos. Thanks!'
Attached to the email is a file called www.myparty.yahoo.com which some users may believe is a link to a website. In fact once the file is launched the worm sends a copy of itself to every contact in the Windows Address book.
"This worm uses cunning social engineering to spread itself," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos Anti-Virus. "My Party dupes users into thinking they'll see exciting snaps of frolicking partygoers. Instead of blushing over embarassing photos, infected users will be red-faced about forwarding malicious code to their friends, colleagues and customers."
