Worm Mal / Pykse-A â€“ girl on spike heels threatens via Skype

On Monday of April 16, 2007 many companies faced with a new network worm, which in the classification of Sophos Company was named Mal / Pykse-A. The difference of the new threat is laid in the fact that the primary infection happens via the reference in the text message of Skype system, a popular VoIP-tool for voice communication via the Internet. Skype Internet-telephone being not the only solution of its kind, has gained a widespread popularity throughout the world, and it would be naive to assume that such a popular tool will not be used by the plotters for their improper purposes. Besides the basic function, the voice communication via the Internet, Skype offers text chat, analogue of instant messages exchange systems such as ICQ, AOL Instant Messenger, Jabber, etc. It is the function the virus writers have chosen for new attack. The mechanism of primary infection by worm Mal / Pykse-A is not too complicated â€“ the user connected to Skype receives a text message with a reference to a young girl photograph named Sandra. When proceeding to this reference there is really a photograph of almost naked woman on high heels. But the photo can be downloaded only when Trojan-installer insensibly enters the user's computer, which then installs that malisious program Mal / Pykse-A. After the infection the worm begins to send selfcopy to the e-mail addresses found in the computer, get registered to the register, downloads additional malicious code and installs in browser its own controlling element. After the worm is started the user sees windows of arbitrary sites â€“ they are mirror copies of quite legal page â€œLiving Africaâ€, so far, from the site library.thinkquest.org, but already now these false copies have hidden frames through which various advertising content enters the computer. In the future, as experts warn, through these frames any code including malicious can be downloaded, which will be performed fully insensibly to the user. The danger of a new threat is rated as low, but the mechanism of distribution, according to experts of Sophos Company, deserves close study. The appearance and flash-like spread of worm Mal / Pykse-A once again confirms that it is important to organize in a corporate (and in home) network the audit and monitoring of all executable applications.