Skype warns users of Windows worm
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(InfoWorld) - Skype users are under attack from aÂ new wormÂ that spreads through the peer-to-peer Internet phone application'sÂ chat feature. The attack begins when a user receives an instant message containing a link from someone in their contact list or an unknown Skype user, said Villu Arak, a Skype spokesman based in Tallinn, Estonia. There are several versions of the chat messages, which are "cleverly written" to fool users, Arak wrote on the Skype heartbeat blog. The link appears to contain a JPEG photo file, but if clicked causes the Windows run/save dialog box to appear, which asks whether the user wants to save or run a ".scr" file. The file is malicious software that can then access a user's PC via Skype's API (application programming interface). The malicious file has been named W32/Ramex.A. "Users whose computers are infected with this virus will send a chat message to other Skype users asking them to click on a web link that can infect" their computers, Arak wrote. To avoid trouble, users should not download the file. At least two security vendors, F-Secure and Kaspersky Lab, have updated their software to detect the worm, Arak wrote. Instant message programs are another way hackers can try to gain control over PCs. Access to one person's instant messenger or e-mail account can mean contact details for many others, allowing hackers to use malicious e-mails or instant messages to lure victims into downloading malicious software. Â
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A vulnerability in Internet Explorer spells potential trouble for Skype users who add or play video in their chats.
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(InfoWorld) - A sophisticated computer worm spreading via AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) is setting up a botnet that may be difficult to combat, security researchers said. The worm, known as W32.pipeline, propagates when AIM users click on a Web link that appears to have been sent to them by someone on their buddy list. They receive a message along the lines of, "Hey, would it be okay if I upload this picture of you to my blog?" If the recipient clicks on the link, an executable file that looks like a JPEG will download into a Windows folder, according to researchers at security company FaceTime Communications Inc. The file can then execute a number of different attacks, said Chris Boyd, security research manager for FaceTime Security Labs and the researcher who discovered the worm. It can open up the email port on the PC and send out spam messages. It can also install a variant of the "hacker defender" rootkit, which is widely deployed and difficult to remove. One of the most dangerous aspects of the worm is that it can also connect to remote file upload sites, which Boyd believes the worm authors' use as sort of staging sites where they can continuously download new infections. Once a computer is infected, the program will propagate using the same instant messaging method. The worm is unique because the program seems to be able to contact a number of different sites around the globe randomly. FaceTime researchers had different results when running the same file. "Previously, where we've seen something similar to this attempted, if one file is pulled offline or removed by an ISP, the whole chain goes down," Boyd said. "But this one, if one file goes missing or gets pulled down, it will potentially make a call to another file. It has quite a random aspect to it."So far, he estimates that the botnet -- a group of similarly infected computers that are remotely controlled -- has 1,000 to 2,000 members. More computers may have been infected but not made part of the botnet. The best defense is for AIM users to be wary of clicking on links. If a user receives an unexpected link from a buddy, the user can always reply to ask if they have sent the link, to make sure it is legitimate. FaceTime has updated its virus protection software to prevent users from infection, and other antivirus vendors may do the same. AIM users that get infected can try to remove the worm but may have to wipe and reformat their drives to get rid of it.
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A new version of the worm that spread from infected Microsoft Corp. Internet Information Services (IIS) Web servers in June has been identified and is using instant messages (IMs) and infected Web sites in Russia, Uruguay and the U.S. to spread itself, according to one security company.
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First contact Security researchers have encountered what's reckoned to be the first spyware menace to target users of mobile phones running the Symbian operating system.â¦
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A new worm has been discovered in the wild that&#39;s not just settling for invading users&#39; PCs--it wants to invade their homes too.
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The recent spate of malware attacks propagating throughout the user base of the Skype Internet calling system illustrates a broader trend toward cyber-criminals moving to take advantage of VoIP platforms as they become increasingly popular.
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A programming error in eBay&#39;s Skype communications software could give cybercriminals a new way to sneak their malicious software onto a victim&#39;s PC.The flaw, which was reported Thursday by security researcher Aviv Raff, has to do with the way that Skype makes use of a Windows Internet Explorer component to render HTML. Because Skype does not apply strict security controls to the software, an attacker could run scripting code on the victim&#39;s system in a dangerous fashion and ultimately install malicious software.The problem is that Skype runs the IE component with the less locked-down &quot;Local Zone&quot; security setting. Because of this attackers are able to do &quot;all sorts of things... [such as] reading/writing files from the local disc and launching executables,&quot; wrote security researcher Petko Petkov, in a Thursday blog post about the issue.For an attack to work, the bad guys would first need to find a trustworthy Web site that contained a common programming flaw called a cross-zone scripting error. This bug would give them a way to trick Skype into running their malicious script as if it came from a trusted Web site.In a video posted to his blog, Raff showed how a cross-zone scripting flaw on the Dailymotion.com Web site could be exploited to launch the calculator program in Windows, using Skype&#39;s &quot;Add video to chat&quot; feature.&quot;The user simply needs to visit DailyMotion via Skype&#8217;s &#39;Add video to chat&#39; button and stumble upon a move which contains the cross-site scripting vector,&quot; Petkov wrote.Worse, attackers could flood the site with maliciously encoded advertisements in order to boost their likelihood of infecting a victim, he said. &quot;This type of attack is very easy to pull and it requires almost zero preparation.&quot;The flaw affects the latest version of Skype -- version 3.6.0.244 -- Raff said. Older versions of the software may also be at risk. &quot;Until the Skype guys fix this vulnerability, I recommend that you stop searching for videos in Skype,&quot; he wrote.Skype representatives could not be reached immediately for comment.
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Internet security monitoring groups are warning Windows users about new Internet attacks aimed at a Windows Internet Naming Service vulnerability that was reported and patched by Microsoft in December.
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A new variant of the MyDoom worm that exploits an unpatched flaw in Microsoftâs Internet Explorer browser has emerged to threaten small business and home users in particular, security experts warned this week.
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Security experts have spotted the first attempts to create an Internet worm that propagates using instant messages and exploits a recently disclosed flaw in Microsoft software.
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Microsoft is warning of a new unpatched vulnerability in its Word software.
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Experts are not in agreement about reports that a password-stealing worm may be spreading via the popular Skype VoIP service, but they're closely studying reports of the spreading infection.
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'Quite normal' feature has been removed Skype has been spying on its Windows-based users since the middle of December by secretly accessing their system bios settings and recording the motherboard serial number.â¦
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Microsoft Corp.  warned about a  new computer virus that exploits a vulnerability in its  PowerPoint presentation software to allow hackers to infiltrate  computer systems.
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Skype has been forced to turn off a video-sharing feature in its software because it could be misused to launch a self-copying worm attack against Skype users, security researchers said Tuesday.A bug in the software, which was first reported last Thursday by security researcher Aviv Raff, stems from the way Skype uses an Internet Explorer component to render HTML.Skype&#39;s video-sharing feature allows users to share videos hosted on two sites -- Dailymotion.com and Metacafe.com -- while chatting with other Skype users.Last week Raff showed how attackers could exploit the bug to run unauthorized software on a Skype user&#39;s PC. But on Tuesday, the security researcher said the flaw was more serious than he&#39;d first thought. It can &quot;be triggered by simply visiting a Web site, or clicking on a link from your instant messaging application,&quot; he wrote in a blog posting, &quot;Which basically means that this vulnerability is now wormable.&quot;Skype appeared to have pulled the video feature from its client software on Tuesday as a result of the bug. Users who attempted to click on the &quot;videos&quot; button within a chat window were greeted with a message that the feature was unavailable &quot;because of some security concerns.&quot;&quot;Our brightest engineers are rattling their wrenches to make things all right and bring the beloved videos back. Soon,&quot; the message read. &quot;Sorry about this.&quot;Skpe representatives did not return calls seeking comment. Last week, Skype spokesman Villu Arak confirmed that there was a security problem for Skype 3.5 and 3.6 users who visited the Dailymotion.com Web site, but users were still able to share videos using Metacafe.com.On Tuesday, however, Skype pulled the video feature altogether after being informed of the new problem, Raff said.Because Metacafe had a cross-site scripting flaw, a common type of programming error, Raff was able to run JavaScript on Metacafe.com, which could then be used to run unauthorized software on the victim&#39;s computer. Attackers could then forward a link to the malicious Web page to all of the Skype contacts in the victim&#39;s computer, spreading the infection.For Raff&#39;s attack to work, an attacker would have to post a maliciously encoded video file to either of the Metacafe or Dailymotion Web sites. Metacafe said Tuesday that it&#39;s &quot;highly unlikely&quot; that this kind of malicious video would make it through the site&#39;s content-filtering process.In a statement, the company said it expects Metacafe videos to be available to Skype users as early as Wednesday morning.Raff said that because the attack could lead to a widespread worm outbreak, it would be better for Skype to fix the underlying problem before bringing Metacafe back online.Raff believes that Dailymotion was probably susceptible to this type of attack as well, although he was unable to confirm this after Skype cut off access to the Web site.The problem lies in the fact that Skype uses a Windows Internet Explorer component with inappropriate security settings, researchers say. Instead of processing pages it renders with the more secure &quot;Internet Zone&quot; security setting, Skype uses IE&#39;s &quot;Local Zone&quot; security setting, usually reserved for more trustworthy content.Until Skype engineers make some changes to their software, more of these problems will continue to pop up, Raff said.Another security researcher who has been studying the flaw agreed.&quot;If they keep their Skype client running in the Local Zone of IE, we will see more of these,&quot; said Petko Petkov of GNU Citizen via instant message. &quot;Before killing Metacafe, anyone who owns the server would have been able to own every Skype user on the planet.&quot;
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After a fairly quiet fall, mass-mailing worm starts to spread on Windows PCs. Plus: Air Force turns to Microsoft for security help.