Potemkin
12-16-2004, 01:34 PM
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200412/s1265335.htm
Wednesday, December 15, 2004. 9:26am (AEDT)
New Internet worm disguised as e-Christmas card
Internet security experts have warned of a new virulent email worm particularly successful in infecting computers as it is disguised as a multilingual electronic Christmas card.
"We think this worm will be big because of its timing and the fact that it comes in 15 different European languages," said Mikko Hyppoenen, head of anti-virus research at Finnish firm F-Secure.
The virus, dubbed Zafi D, is a traditional Internet worm infecting computers by email and distributes itself by using email lists on contaminated personal computers.
Its Christmas greeting is in the language of the recipient, decided by the country code - like ".fi" or ".fr" - at the end of the email address, making it all the more dangerous.
Mr Hyppoenen says it also opens a back door on infected PCs, making it possible for outsiders to use them to distribute unsolicited bulk email advertisements, or spam and launch malicious attacks to close down websites.
He says the earlier variants of the Zafi Internet worm family were highly dangerous viruses, with the B variant still among the top 10 most virulent bugs several months after it was launched.
While this is the first Zafi worm disguised as a Christmas card, the phenomenon is not new.
"We have seen these hoaxes for several Christmases already and personally I prefer traditional pen and paper cards and we recommend this to all our clients too," Mr Hyppoenen said.
Wednesday, December 15, 2004. 9:26am (AEDT)
New Internet worm disguised as e-Christmas card
Internet security experts have warned of a new virulent email worm particularly successful in infecting computers as it is disguised as a multilingual electronic Christmas card.
"We think this worm will be big because of its timing and the fact that it comes in 15 different European languages," said Mikko Hyppoenen, head of anti-virus research at Finnish firm F-Secure.
The virus, dubbed Zafi D, is a traditional Internet worm infecting computers by email and distributes itself by using email lists on contaminated personal computers.
Its Christmas greeting is in the language of the recipient, decided by the country code - like ".fi" or ".fr" - at the end of the email address, making it all the more dangerous.
Mr Hyppoenen says it also opens a back door on infected PCs, making it possible for outsiders to use them to distribute unsolicited bulk email advertisements, or spam and launch malicious attacks to close down websites.
He says the earlier variants of the Zafi Internet worm family were highly dangerous viruses, with the B variant still among the top 10 most virulent bugs several months after it was launched.
While this is the first Zafi worm disguised as a Christmas card, the phenomenon is not new.
"We have seen these hoaxes for several Christmases already and personally I prefer traditional pen and paper cards and we recommend this to all our clients too," Mr Hyppoenen said.