Microsoft’s MSN Messenger is the latest in a long line of applications to be targeted by virus writers.
Consistent with the Bropia worm’s method of operation, the two worms targeting MSN Messenger, Kelvir.a and Kelvir.b, were first noticed this past weekend. F-Secure also makes mention of another worm called Sumom, which is targeting MSN Messenger as well.
According to their blog post:
The interesting fact is, that the Sumom worm contains message addressed to the author of the Assiral worm. The message is quite rude and blasts the Assiral’s author for trying to eliminate Bropia worm infection by creating a new worm.
I really hope we are not going to see another War of the Worms like the Bagle-Netsky-Mydoom war last year…
The way the new worms infect MSN Messenger users is by sending a message containing a link to a damaging file. The Inquirer says, “This file is a variant of a spying bot, which opens a backdoor to the PC and spreads by sending itself to all the MSN/Windows Messenger contacts on the infected PC.”
Chosun.com, a Japanese news site, indicates a variant of Sumom called Fatso-A is targeting MSN Messenger as well:
Another virus, Fatso-A, can spread through MSN Messenger and through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing applications. Fatso insinuates itself by using eye-catching phrases like: Annoying crazy frog getting killed.pif; Crazy frog gets killed by train!.pif; and Fat Elvis! lol.pif.
Security sites like Sophos.com and F-Secure.com recommend keeping virus definitions and the like up to date in order to protect yourself from these types of attacks.
It is also advisable not to click links in messages coming from unknown senders.
Chris Richardson is a search engine writer and editor for Murdok. Visit Murdok for the latest search news.
