TechSpot en EspañolMost Popular
| Top Stories | Just in | Featured |
11 awesome applications you've never heard of featured
Microsoft to offer three-user Windows 7 Family Pack?
USB 3.0-equipped PCs due before end of the year
Apple issues advice on iPhone 3GS overheating
Firefox 3.5 breaks 5 million downloads in 24 hours
Psystar emerges from bankruptcy with new hardware
TS Community
| User Gallery | Recent Discussion |
 Silver Streak by bnreddy |  phantasm66 new workstation linux by Phantasm66 |
 VNF4ULTRA by vnf4ultra |  by Akio |
TechSpot RSSInformation Technology
Four new Trojans on the loose
Four new Trojans are doing the rounds, one of which is directed at PCs, and the other three concerning mobile phones. Bootton.E, Pbstealer.D and Sendtool.A, the phone Trojans, have quite a low infection rate at present. Bootton.E restarts the mobile but also releases corrupted components that cause a reboot to fail, rendering the phone unusable. Pbstealer.D, on the other hand, sends an infected user's contact list, notepad and calendar to-do list to other nearby users via Bluetooth. How isn’t that potentially embarrassing? Sendtool.A sends malicious programs such as the Pbstealer Trojan to other devices via Bluetooth.
Fortunately, the worms are unlikely to spread very far. "They don't spread quickly because they're not purely autonomous," said Ollie Whitehause, a researcher with Symantec. Unlike worms on computers, the Trojan horses hitting cell phones spread as attachments that require users to download them.
Nyxem is the PC worm. Unlike the mobile phone malware, Nyxem is spreading rapidly and carries a potentially destructive set of instructions.
Also nicknamed the Kama Sutra worm, it is programmed to overwrite all of the files on computers it infects on 3 February, said Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at F-Secure Corp.
Fortunately, the worms are unlikely to spread very far. "They don't spread quickly because they're not purely autonomous," said Ollie Whitehause, a researcher with Symantec. Unlike worms on computers, the Trojan horses hitting cell phones spread as attachments that require users to download them.
Nyxem is the PC worm. Unlike the mobile phone malware, Nyxem is spreading rapidly and carries a potentially destructive set of instructions.
Also nicknamed the Kama Sutra worm, it is programmed to overwrite all of the files on computers it infects on 3 February, said Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at F-Secure Corp.
Related Stories
User Comments (18)
Post a comment| Need_a_Dell on January 25, 2006 10:05 PM | Hopefully Norton and other antivirus programs will be able to release an update to protect people from this. It sounds like it might be pretty bad. I don't care much about the mobile viruses. i find it kind of funny to tell you the truth. I never thought we;d see the day when a cell phone could get a trojan virus. I suppose it's a sign of the times.
|
| omer718 on January 25, 2006 10:09 PM | Nothing New. It seems as though its impossible to stop this trjan threat completely. OR IS IT NEEDED TO HELP KEEP THE COMPUTER ECONOMY GOING??? WHO KNOWS!!
|
| otmakus on January 25, 2006 10:33 PM | That's why I never activate Bluetooth in my mobile. It takes too much battery life and it's an open door for malicious things like these trojans. And like PC users, I think many mobile users are stupid enough to open something when they're told to open it.
The PC worm is another matter though, how's it spreading and how do we know if we've been hit? All files in the whole hard drive to be overwritten is a horrible nightmare.
|
| mav451 on January 26, 2006 12:29 AM | Is there any significance for Feb. 3rd? Or is that just an arbitrary date set by the makers of the Trojan?
|
| cyrax on January 26, 2006 12:57 AM | since i have projects and won't be surfing all that much, hopefully this security scare should pass me by.....hopefully.
|
| Race on January 26, 2006 1:37 AM | As far as the phone trojans are concerned....wow...stealing someone's to-do-list and notepad???? Sounds to me like the author(s) have way to much time on their hands.
For the PC worm......I would think anti-virus venders have already released an update. These kinds of security alerts can be a good time to remind people that this is one of the many reasons to back up the stuff they don't want to lose!
|
| Kaleid on January 26, 2006 4:22 AM | Install a good antivirus program, put on auto-update or if disabled make sure to check every couple of days for updates and you are pretty much secure against anything that is out there.
Haven't had a virus for 3 years now, always used Norton Antivirus but made a switch to F-Secure to try it out, hopefully it eats up less system resources.
|
| taffia77 on January 26, 2006 4:45 AM | This Nyxem sounds like a nasty piece of work. Still, at least it's a return to good old fashioned malicious viruses, which in a perveted way I admire. Remember the days of the New Zealand virus, Cascade and my favourite - Casino? Never got the last one but as a gambler the idea of playing cards to save the content of my 40Mb hard drive had a sick appeal to it!
More of these traditional viruses I say, and not these naff ones that we've had in the last 10 years. Of course, my tune will change if I get hit by one. :-o
|
| JMMD on January 26, 2006 5:56 AM | I recently switched from Norton to Kaspersky. I had been a norton user since the beginning. Kaspersky actually found a few dormant trojans that Norton had no idea about. I've seen this on a few machines. It's my new favorite A/V.
|
| canadian on January 26, 2006 8:29 AM | Why, do people need to try and ruin the internet with viruses?
|
| Cartz on January 26, 2006 1:43 PM | Originally posted by canadian:
Why, do people need to try and ruin the internet with viruses?
I've had a long running theory that the anti-virus firms create the viruses to keep themselves in business... Seriously, I've been to many different computer science schools, and never once have I met anyone who even had a passing interest in writing viruses. Conspiracy theory yes, but stranger things have happened.
|
| nathanskywalker on January 26, 2006 2:15 PM | Again, much of those viruses sound like things you are not likely to pick up unless you are being stupid. Obviously a good virus scanner will help, but so will common sense. First of all, if you get an email offering flipping porno...umm..huh...DELETE!!! That is just for starters, but really you just have to be careful. Of course it is good to know when knew threats are coming out so we can be on guard.
|
| MonkeyMan on January 26, 2006 2:27 PM | This is very unfortunate, with all the trojans and viruses already out there, there just has to be new ones that arise. Man I hate trojans, and this new Nyxem worm, is probably the most dangerous worm I've ever heard of. I mean overwriting files? man that is a nightmare!!!!! I hope I don't ever get this trojoan.
|
| djleyo on January 26, 2006 4:13 PM | I think all computer users sould be more educated on web surfing security .Yeah we (people that visit T.S are more tech oriented but think of all of the grandmothers out there that use there connection only for email Sometimes they cant tell if the email they are getting IS SAFE to bad
i would like to se some better security features in upcoming OS to help computer beginners to detect these types of threats i agree with omer718
|
| gamingmage on January 26, 2006 6:08 PM | Why must people do this to other people? Hopefully all the virus protecters out their strengthen security and other things to protect PCs.
|
| bigadm on January 26, 2006 6:18 PM | I agree with cartz maybe the AV companies are making these trojans abd viruses to keep themselves in business lol
Bigadm Toronto Canada
|
| Kaleid on January 26, 2006 6:25 PM | Wonder if there are any antivirus corporations that hire virus programmers that then spread them online? It's good for business 
|
| Cy6erpuke on February 3, 2006 1:02 AM | Wow, these guys are really busy. Who is paying them to come up with all these virusses. Maybe we should ask the big anti-virus companies about their budget?
|
