Symantec has identified a new variant of the Mydoom worm —W32.Mydoom.M@mm, and rated this strain as ‘Level 5’, which is the most severe, due to increased submission rates.
The worm is a mass mailer that opens a back door and uses its own SMTP engine to spread through e-mail. It allows remote access to the infected machine, and gathers e-mail addresses from certain types of files, as well as from search engines such as Yahoo, Google, Alta Vista and Lycos. The mass mailing may clog servers and downgrade system performance.
“IDC research shows that security has surpassed cost-control and cost containment issues as the concern that tops the list of IT challenges in large companies. As home use of the internet and e-mail increases across the Middle East, the threat posed by viruses or worms is becoming a concern to us all,” comments Kevin Isaac, regional director at Symantec MEA. “
“Due to the mass mailing capabilities of W32.MyDoom.M, it is spreading quickly, and in order to be fully protected, all users should take necessary steps to protect their systems, such as installing security patches, having up-to-date virus definitions, and refraining from opening attachments or suspicious e-mails,” he adds.
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