[helpc] Klez worm reaches 'level 4 threat'
- From: "Shaka( Rudy)" <strub.rudy@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <helpc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2002 05:44:11 +0200
Klez worm reaches 'level 4 threat'
By Joris Evers
April 26, 2002 7:00 am PT
update THE W32.KLEZ WORM and its variants are still loose in the wild
more than a week after the latest variant was discovered, moving
antivirus software vendor Symantec to upgrade it to a "level 4
<javascript:winPop('http://www.infoworld.com/klink/security/security.htm
l?w=virus');> virus threat" on its danger scale of five.
Symantec said it is receiving more than 3,000 submissions a day of
W32.Klez and its variants. At the peak of the SirCam
<javascript:winPop('http://www.infoworld.com/klink/security/security.htm
l?w=virus');> virus, in mid-2001, the company received about 1,500 daily
submissions, according to Symantec, in Cupertino, Calif.
"The number of submissions warrants a level-four rating," said André
Post, senior researcher at Symantec, speaking on Friday. "But you have
to see this in perspective. The submissions are for all W32.Klez
variants -- W32.Klez.E and W32.Klez.H are the main two contributors to
these numbers."
W32.Klez.H, the latest variant of the W32.Klez mass mailer worm that
first surfaced last year, was discovered on April 17. A variant of a
worm contains attributes of the original, but has been altered so that
it behaves differently. Updated
<javascript:winPop('http://www.infoworld.com/klink/security/security.htm
l?w=virus');> virus signatures from leading antivirus software vendors
should protect against the worm.
Home users, not corporations, are being hit by W32.Klez, according to
Post.
"Based on analysis of Thursday's submissions I can say that 5 percent or
less of all the submissions that we get are from corporate users. The
overwhelming majority is from home users. Corporations have learned that
they need to protect themselves from worms and
<javascript:winPop('http://www.infoworld.com/klink/security/security.htm
l?w=virus');> viruses like these," he said.
Marius van Oers, a
<javascript:winPop('http://www.infoworld.com/klink/security/security.htm
l?w=virus');> virus research engineer with Network Associates in
Amsterdam, said W32.Klez is spreading worldwide and is "one of the
biggest
<javascript:winPop('http://www.infoworld.com/klink/security/security.htm
l?w=virus');> virus threats today, but not historically."
It's not a one-day phenomenon, he said. "It started slowly and we have
seen the spread accelerate in the last week."
Network Associates rates the worm "medium" risk, but that really only
goes for home users, according to Van Oers, who agreed that W32.Klez
finds most of its victims among home users.
"We aren't worried too much about the corporate users as they work with
updated
<javascript:winPop('http://www.infoworld.com/klink/security/security.htm
l?w=virus');> virus definitions and filtering on file extensions.
However, we are seeing reports from home users. The risk level for
corporate users is slightly below medium, but it is certainly at medium
for the home users," he said.
Both Symantec and Network Associates advise users to check if they have
recent
<javascript:winPop('http://www.infoworld.com/klink/security/security.htm
l?w=virus');> virus definition files installed. Symantec offers a
special software tool to remove the
<javascript:winPop('http://www.infoworld.com/klink/security/security.htm
l?w=virus');> virus.
W32.Klez.H arrives in an e-mail with a random subject line and message
body. The sender's e-mail address can be spoofed. Once launched, the
worm sends itself to all addresses it finds in the
<javascript:winPop('http://www.infoworld.com/klink/op_sys/op_sys.html?w=
Windows');> Windows address book, the
<javascript:winPop('http://www.infoworld.com/klink/database/database.htm
l?w=database');> database of instant-messaging program ICQ, and local
files. A file from the user's system is randomly selected and sent along
with the worm. W32.Klez.H also attempts to disable antivirus software
and drops another
<javascript:winPop('http://www.infoworld.com/klink/security/security.htm
l?w=virus');> virus in the user's system that tries to infect executable
files there and across network filing systems, according to antivirus
vendor write-ups of the worm.
--->>>
Shaka( Rudy)
HelPC list owner
shaka.rudy@xxxxxxxxx
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