Google Worm Shows Bad Guys Want Efficiency, Too
Kaspersky Labs, a security software company in Moscow, said Tuesday that it has detected a new worm that uses search site Google to automatically find vulnerable systems. The worm, called Net-Worm.Perl.Santy.a, queries Google to locate Web sites running vulnerable versions of phpBB, which is software for creating Internet forums using the PHP scripting language.
A week ago, the PHP Group, an open-source development organization, issued PHP 4.3.10 and PHP 5.0.3 to close the vulnerabilities this worm exploits. A fix of phpBB, version 2.0.11, was issued in mid-November.
"This is a little hint of what's coming in 2005," cautions Timothy Keanini, chief technology officer for nCircle Network Security Inc., a network security company. "All the technology that makes us more efficient makes the bad guys more efficient, too."