Worm Inflicts Skype And Spreads Infection

A latest Skype worm on the Internet projects a picture of a woman wearing scanty clothes and stilettos. Both F-Secure and Sophos have identified the worm and named it 'IM-Worm:W32/Pykse.A' and 'Mal/Pykse-A', respectively. Tech.blorge published the information on April 16, 2007.

The Pykse - a virus that spreads through Skype instant messages pretends as a chat message that links to a site displaying pictures of a scantily dressed young woman. While upon clicking on the messages, pictures of a girl wearing black lingerie do appear but only after the worm has infected the computers via a Trojandownloader that injects other pieces of malware.

PCs, which get infected, spread the worm to other computers by delivering different types of short messages canvassing soft-core smut to the user's friends over the Internet with the help of Skype. Theregister published this on April 16, 2007.

Once the Pykse worm gets installed and starts running, it tries to link to several remote websites. By doing this the worm probably attempts to increase as many hits as possible of those websites to generate advertising earnings for them, said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos.

This is another illustration of how malware creators can use their creations to make revenue, Cluley continued. As malicious attacks keep appearing in waves, companies should ensure that they properly deploy their secure defenses. Moreover, they need to enforce policies about appropriate programs for their users to run and websites they can safely visit. Tech.blorge published this on April 16, 2007.

Skype has been target of worms but the damage inflicted has never been immense. Therefore, Cluley thinks this particular worm would also not spread terribly. PCworld published Cluley's statement on April 17, 2007.

Some instant message malware can cause an automatic response to make the user to open the link, but this worm doesn't seem capable of such behavior. However, it causes Skype to display the DND or "Do Not Disturb" status that stops incoming calls and other messages. It also restricts an individual from answering an IM, Cluley elaborated. PCworld published Graham Cluley's remarks on April 17, 2007.

Related article: Worm Spreads With Random Subject Lines

» SPAMfighter News - 4/23/2007