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By Applelinks Senior Editor John H. Farr
A Microsoft Internet Explorer flaw first publicized in March, 2001 is back in the news. According to CNET News.com, a new email worm named "Swen" or "Gibe.F" is spreading rapidly in Europe, and this one has some disturbingly clever features.
To take advantage of people's awareness of the prevalence of comptuer viruses, the worm masquerades as an email from Microsoft containing a "cumulative patch" for Internet Explorer, Outlook ,and Outlook Express.
In addition to spreading via e-mail, experts said, Swen can be transmitted over services such as Internet relay chat (IRC) and through peer-to-peer networks. The virus turns on file sharing--if it is not already turned on--and creates a shared directory with multiple copies of itself under various file names, said Kevin Haley, a group product manager at Symantec Security Response. Among the files Swen tries to disguise itself as are virus removal tools.
Comments: The "social engineering" of this virus is worthy of note, i.e. that it spreads through IRC and peer-to-peer networks. Apparently it's not considered a major threat at this time, but since many home users have not patched their software, they are most likely to feel the brunt of this latest email worm assault. For our part we wonder why someone took the time to write a sophisticated virus that exploits an older flaw. For practice, perhaps?
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