Categories: SecurityWorkspace

Yahoo And Skype Hit By Wave Of New Worms

Security researchers have reported a new wave of attacks targeting users of Yahoo Messenger and Skype.

BKIS (Bach Khoa Internetwork Security) researchers May 7 said the attack comes via messages such as, “Does my new hairstyle look good? bad? perfect?” and “My printer is about to be thrown through a window if this pic won’t come our right. You see anything wrong with it?” The messages contain malicious links.

“The users are more easily tricked into clicking the link by these messages, because users tend to think that ‘their friend(s)’ are asking for [advice],” said the BKIS blog post. “Moreover, the URL shows a .jpg file to users, reinforcing the users’ thought of an image file.”

Social Engineering

BKIS’ discovery follows the appearance of another worm targeting Yahoo Messenger that was reported earlier this week.

“The page at the end of the link is basic and does not employ any exploits in order to install the worm, it relies solely social engineering to trick victims into believing they are opening a picture from a friend, while in fact they run the worm,” explained Symantec researcher Mircea Ciubotariu on 2 May.

Once executed, “the worm copies itself to %WinDir%\infocard.exe, then it adds itself to the Windows Firewall List, blocks the Windows Updates service and sets the following registry value so that it runs whenever the system boots: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run”Firewall Administrating” = “%WinDir%\infocard.exe,” Ciubotariu wrote.

Executing Malicious Files

With that done, the worm then blasts itself out to everyone on the victim’s Yahoo Messenger contact list, and may also download and execute other malicious files.

According to BKIS, the other worm has “more complicated functions.” Among other things, it “automatically sends messages with different contents containing malicious URLs to user names in [the] Skype [or] Yahoo Messenger friend list of the user” and “uses rootkit technique to hide its files and processes.” The malware also “blocks operations of antivirus software” and “copies itself along with file Autorun.inf into USB drives to spread.”

“Once again, we would recommend [that] IM users … be careful before clicking any links received, even from your friends or relatives,” BKIS said. Also, “Users should regularly update their antivirus [software] on their computers.”

Brian Prince eWEEK USA 2014. Ziff Davis Enterprise Inc. All Rights Reserved

Recent Posts

Apple, Google Mobile Ecosystems Should Be Investigated, CMA Told

CMA receives 'provisional recommendation' from independent inquiry that Apple,Google mobile ecosystem needs investigation

6 hours ago

Australia Rejects Elon Musk Claim About Social Media Ban For Under-16s

Government minister flatly rejects Elon Musk's “unsurprising” allegation that Australian government seeks control of Internet…

8 hours ago

Northvolt Files For Bankruptcy Protection In US

Northvolt files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States, and CEO and co-founder…

10 hours ago

UK’s CMA Readies Cloud Sector “Behavioural” Remedies – Report

Targetting AWS, Microsoft? British competition regulator soon to announce “behavioural” remedies for cloud sector

1 day ago

Former Policy Boss At X, Nick Pickles, Joins Sam Altman Venture

Move to Elon Musk rival. Former senior executive at X joins Sam Altman's venture formerly…

1 day ago

Bitcoin Rises Above $96,000 Amid Trump Optimism

Bitcoin price rises towards $100,000, amid investor optimism of friendlier US regulatory landscape under Donald…

1 day ago