Email worm graduates to IM
A worm that first disguised itself as an email from computer vendors now attempts to trick MSN Messenger users into executing malicious files.
The Chod.B worm, which was first discovered on April Fool's day, spreads via email purportedly from Microsoft, or security vendors Symantec and Trend Micro.
When using MSN Messenger as its propagation tool, the virus sends out messages to contacts from the infected user's address book, warning them that they are about to receive a file. The virus then sends a file designed to infect the recipient.
Trend Micro’s senior systems engineer Adam Biviano said the development is 'alarming' because it mimics the behaviour of a real IM user.
"The virus will send you a message first saying 'check out what I just found on the Internet', and then send you [the malicious] file. It is not just sending files out of the blue anymore — it is trying to imitate what a friend in your contact list would do," said Biviano.
