W32/Rbot-AKR

Please follow the instructions for removing worms.

W32/Rbot-AKR is a network worm with backdoor Trojan functionality for the Windows platform.

The worm copies itself to a file named wininit.exe in the Windows system folder and creates the following registry entries:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\OLE
Microsoft Update
"wininit.exe"

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Microsoft Update
"wininit.exe"

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices
Microsoft Update
"wininit.exe"

W32/Rbot-AKR may also set the following registry entries:

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Ole
EnableDCOM
"N"

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa
restrictanonymous
dword:00000001

W32/Rbot-AKR spreads using a variety of techniques including exploiting weak passwords on computers and SQL servers, exploiting operating system vulnerabilities (including DCOM-RPC, LSASS, WebDAV and UPNP) and using backdoors opened by other worms or Trojans.

W32/Rbot-AKR can be controlled by a remote attacker over IRC channels. The backdoor component of W32/Rbot-AKR can be instructed by a remote user to perform the following functions:

start an FTP server
start a Proxy server
start a web server
take part in distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks
log keypresses
capture screen/webcam images
packet sniffing
port scanning
download/execute arbitrary files
start a remote shell (RLOGIN)
steal product registration information from certain software

Patches for the operating system vulnerabilities exploited by W32/Rbot-AKR can be obtained from Microsoft at:

MS01-059
MS02-039
MS03-007
MS03-049
MS04-011
MS04-012

Sophos's anti-virus products include Genotype™ detection technology, which can proactively protect against new threats without requiring an update. Sophos customers have been protected against W32/Rbot-AKR (detected as W32/Rbot-Fam) since version 3.94.