Security news20 January 2003
Female virus writer attacks her fellow coders
Sophos experts have advised customers about a new email-aware worm that has an unusual payload. Not only does it attempt to disinfect computers of another worm but it also contains a message disparaging another virus writer.
W32/Sahay-A appears to be written by the female virus writer Gigabyte, believed to be based in Belgium. In the past Gigabyte has gained herself considerable notoriety by being a rare example of a female writing viruses in a pastime dominated by young males.
In a clear indication that the virus writing community is not united Gigabyte has contained the following message inside her virus:
Hi there.. it seems you were infected with Yaha.k. That worm however, written by an idiot who sPeLlS lIkE tHiS, abused my website and got me to receive the complaints. Therefore, I have just disinfected you. Don't worry tho.. as I didn't wanna steal from you, I gave you this virus (Win32.HLLP.YahaSux) in return :)
Greetz,
Gigabyte [Metaphase VX Team]
"This virus does not appear to be particularly widespread but protection is already available for Sophos customers," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos Anti-Virus. "It's interesting to see virus writers having quarrels with each other - it's just a shame they choose to have their arguments on the computers of innocent users rather than over a pint of beer down the pub."
