Google stops spread of Santy worm
Google has responded to calls from antivirus companies to stop the advance of an Internet worm that was using the search engine's technology to spread among online bulletin boards.
Antivirus companies say the Santy worm, which searches Google for sites that use a vulnerable version of the phpBB bulletin board software, is spreading quickly - it had already infected about 40,000 Web sites by Tuesday evening.
On Wednesday, a Google representative told ZDNet Australia that though Google users were not at risk from Santy, the search company had started blocking attempts by the worm to replicate.
"We are aware of an Internet worm that exploits a vulnerability in third-party Web servers that use PHP bulletin board software. While the worm does not put Google users at risk, we are working to help stop its propagation by blocking queries to Google that are generated by the worm," the representative said.
Google was prompted into action after antivirus companies, such as F-Secure, said it would be a "trivial" effort for Google to stop the spread of the worm because its methods of propagation were well-known.
