belgareth
01-19-2004, 01:50 PM
Spammers\' Scavenging
E-Mail Virus Surfaces on Net
LONDON (Reuters) - A new computer virus capable of harvesting millions of
e-mail addresses from infected PCs was rapidly spreading across the Internet Monday, security experts said.
The infection, known as \"Bagle\" or \"Beagle,\" appears to be the handiwork of spammers keen to collect a
batch of e-mail addresses they can then re-sell to other spam e-mail marketers or keep for their own use.
\"Bagle\" also contains code that could turn an infected computer into a veritable \"spamming\" machine.
Security experts said it is patterned after the recent \"Sobig\" and \"Mimail\" outbreaks, which also turned
scores of computers into zombie machines that spammers can control remotely to send torrents of get-rich-quick and
sex aid messages to other computer users.
\"It seems perfectly possible that Bagle is yet another worm written
by spammers. When they have enough infected computers, they could automatically install invisible e-mail proxy
servers on each machine and start spamming through them,\" said Mikko Hypponen, research manager at Finnish
anti-virus firm F-Secure.
A host of virus-detection firms had placed their most severe ratings on the e-mail,
noting it was spreading quickly from Asia through Europe and now to the United States.
The e-mail infection, or
worm, contains a familiar subject line of \"Hi\" and an executable file attachment identified by \".exe.\" The
body of the e-mail contains random characters.
The virus is triggered once a computer user clicks on the
attachment, setting in motion an aggressive e-mail harvesting program that scans all documents on the infected
computer and throughout the network it is attached to.
Computer analysts said most corporate e-mail filters
should be able to block the infected e-mail, but that home users were particularly vulnerable.
E-Mail Virus Surfaces on Net
LONDON (Reuters) - A new computer virus capable of harvesting millions of
e-mail addresses from infected PCs was rapidly spreading across the Internet Monday, security experts said.
The infection, known as \"Bagle\" or \"Beagle,\" appears to be the handiwork of spammers keen to collect a
batch of e-mail addresses they can then re-sell to other spam e-mail marketers or keep for their own use.
\"Bagle\" also contains code that could turn an infected computer into a veritable \"spamming\" machine.
Security experts said it is patterned after the recent \"Sobig\" and \"Mimail\" outbreaks, which also turned
scores of computers into zombie machines that spammers can control remotely to send torrents of get-rich-quick and
sex aid messages to other computer users.
\"It seems perfectly possible that Bagle is yet another worm written
by spammers. When they have enough infected computers, they could automatically install invisible e-mail proxy
servers on each machine and start spamming through them,\" said Mikko Hypponen, research manager at Finnish
anti-virus firm F-Secure.
A host of virus-detection firms had placed their most severe ratings on the e-mail,
noting it was spreading quickly from Asia through Europe and now to the United States.
The e-mail infection, or
worm, contains a familiar subject line of \"Hi\" and an executable file attachment identified by \".exe.\" The
body of the e-mail contains random characters.
The virus is triggered once a computer user clicks on the
attachment, setting in motion an aggressive e-mail harvesting program that scans all documents on the infected
computer and throughout the network it is attached to.
Computer analysts said most corporate e-mail filters
should be able to block the infected e-mail, but that home users were particularly vulnerable.