SAN FRANCISCO – A new variant of the Bropia worm that uses MSN Messenger to spread is attacking unprotected computers on the Internet. The Bropia.F worm is packaged with a second, more damaging worm that tries to exploit poorly patched computers.
The latest variant of the Bropia worm was discovered on Wednesday evening, reported Security firm Trend Micro. It infects systems belonging to users of MSN Messenger by sending itself as a picture of a roast chicken with tan lines to all available or online contacts. It also releases a second more dangerous worm, called Agabot.ajc, on the infected computer.
Bropia can easily be avoided, because it exploits vulnerabilities that could have been patched months ago and relies on people opening a file through MSN Messenger. People should only open files received through the instant messaging program if they are expected, even if they are from a contact.
The worm affects MSN Messenger on computers running Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000 and XP, according to Trend Micro’s advisory. The second worm-Agabot.ajc-does have the potential to perform a distributed denial-of-service attack on certain services. For example it preys on the same vulnerabilities that were exploited by Slammer, Blaster (MSBlast) and Sasser.
