Wallon virus wrecks Windows Media Player
A new mass-mailing virus called Wallon, which destroys Windows media player and is activated when a user tries to play MP3 or video files from an infected PC, was discovered in Europe on Tuesday.
Traditionally, mass-mailing viruses such as Netsky and Bagle are spread as attachments. When an unsuspecting user opens the infected attachment, it executes a piece of code that usually attempts to steal the user's address book and often opens a back door to give hackers easy access to the system's resources.
Maikel Albrecht, product manager at Finnish security company F-Secure, said that because of recent virus outbreaks, users are less willing to open email attachments, which is why Wallon's author is counting on users clicking on an email link instead.
"The link in the email points to the actual virus, so if you click the link you download the virus," said Albrecht.
However, once the PC is infected, Wallon remains dormant until the user tries to run a media file such as an MP3 or a video. If by default the system uses Windows Media Player, the virus is activated and attempts to send HTML emails, each with a link to the virus file, to any email addresses in the computer's address book.
