Skype warns users of Windows worm
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Skype users are under attack from a new worm that spreads through the peer-to-peer Internet phone application's...
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(InfoWorld) - A new variant ofÂ the Stration worm, which has been plaguing Windows users for the past year, has made the jump from Skype to the ICQ and MSN Messenger networks. This latest variant popped up earlier this week, according to Chris Boyd, a researcher at FaceTime Communications, who blogs under the pseudonym "Paperghost." "They're using Skype as a jump off into other more established networks," Boyd said. "The infection will go looking for other instant messaging clients that are on the PC and then attempt to send the infection message that it initially sends through Skype through these other chat systems." For a computer to be infected, a user must first click on a link and then agree to download an executable file. In one sample provided by Boyd, the malicious link is listed below the instant message, "Check this out. Give me your opinion." Once installed, the worm will gradually start to send out messages to the victim's contacts, Boyd said. Instant message worms have spread from network-to-network in the past, but this is the first time Boyd has seen a worm jump from Skype to another network. "It's an odd system to make, because these guys have a foot in the door [in the Skype network]," he said. "You think they'd focus all their energies onto exploiting Skype." Stration is not widespread and is considered to be a low-risk infection, but it has been a tough worm to fight for some security vendors. Over the past year it has morphed into hundreds of variants, and antivirus companies have been having a hard time keeping track of its many iterations. Stration has also been called "Warezov" and "Stratio." Nobody knows who is behind the worm, but the domains that host the malicious code are registered through a Chinese Internet company, Boyd said. Â
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Another candidate in the growing list of exploits on instant messaging clients and servers arrived in the wild. Called W32.Funner, the worm on Monday circulated to attack on the Windows Messenger platform.
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A major outage is affecting many Skype users' ability to log on to the network and send IMs. The company is mum, but some pin the blame on a series of Microsoft updates released yesterday.
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The Stration (or Warezov) worm appears to have made a jump from Skype to the ICQ and MSN messenger networks, the first time that service has been successfully used as a launching pad for such infections.
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A new worm, W32/Funner, is spread over the MSN Messenger instant messaging networks. Experts say it has caused minimal damage, but they say IM networks are ripe for more virus attacks.
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Skype warns users password-stealing Trojan horse is making the rounds, disguised as a Skype security plug-in
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IM in peril Malware miscreants have created the first worm targeting Skype that's also capable over other instant messaging networks, such as MSN and ICQ.â¦
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Skype patches a critical vulnerability that forced it to dump features from its VoIP and chat software to prevent attackers from hijacking Windows PCs.
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Security researchers issue a warning about new worms that are targeting smart phones running the Symbian S60 second-edition phones.
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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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Latest worm poses a risk to many Web sites using the PHP scripting language.
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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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Calling out for an update Skype has released an update for its Mac software following the discovery of a security vulnerability that created a means to compromise Apple PCs running the popular IP telephony application.â¦
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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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(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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At least a dozen Microsoft software applications and operating systems affected. Also: The talking worm.