Tech Alert Briefing for 5/12/2003

W32.HLLW.Fizzer@mm is a new and complex worm that can steal information from your computer, attack other PCs, give hackers access to your PC, kill your virus protection, and update itself. Add to that the fact that it's one of the most rapidly spreading worms on the Internet - ever.

Active only since May 8th, 2003, F-Secure claims that it's one of the most widespread viruses in the world. And they've just updated the threat to Level 1. (Other virus detection vendors are still rating the worm as a medium-level risk. But it's spreading quickly and those ratings may change..)

Part of the rapid transmission rate can be explained by the fact that, in addition to email, this worm can be sent out by peer-to-peer file-sharing networks (like Kazaa and AIM).

What can this virus do? Plenty.

1. Use your address book to spread to others.
   
2. Make use of a built-in backdoor to allow hacker access to your PC through IRC.
   
3. Activate a built-in tool to enable Denial of Service (DoS) attack.
   
4. Launch a data-stealing Trojan (using an external keylogger) to get access to user activity.
   
5. Make use of an included HTTP server.
   
6. Kill tasks of some virus detection programs.

Want more? To top it all off, once this worm has installed itself on your system it's auto-updating.

What can you do?

• Make sure that your virus definitions are up-to-date. All the major companies have released updates that can detect and clean systems.
• Be careful about the files retrieved from public peer-to-peer networks.
  
• If you suspect that you have this worm, you can check your Windows directory for these files:
  • ISERVC.EXE
    
  • INITBAK.DAT
    
  • ISERVC.DLL
    

Previous Tech Alerts:
05/12/03New Report Details Efforts to Address Cyber Threats
04/02/03Time to Step Up IT Security and Sendmail Vulnerability
03/18/03Windows 2000 WebDAV Buffer Overflow Exploit Against IIS 5.0 - CRITICAL
03/03/03Critical Vulnerability Discovered in Sendmail
02/06/03Microsoft Releases Cummulative Patch for Internet Explorer Flaws It Lists as Critical
01/26/03The Importance of Applying Patches
01/23/03Microsoft and SUN release slew of Patches
01/14/03New Worms Spreading through Email
12/09/02Microsoft Issues Updated Cumulative Patch for IE
11/13/02New e-greeting tactics pose serious threat
11/01/02Critical patch released for Windows 2000, Windows XP
10/21/02Microsoft Fixes Vulnerabilities: Releases Patches for SQL, Word and Excel
10/03/02Bugbear Worm Gains Strength
10/02/02Top 20 List of Internet Security Vulnerabilities Released
09/02/02Microsoft Warns SysAdmins To Immediately Patch Identity Spoofing Flaw
08/21/02Microsoft releases patch to fix "critical" vulnerability inWindows 2000 systems that allow unprivileged users to logonto them interactively
08/09/02 Is Confidential Bank Information Walking Out Your Door?
07/30/02 Microsoft Continues to Patch Flawed Software
07/23/02 CERT advisory on PHP
07/15/02 Outlook Users Employing PGP Encryption Program Vulnerable to Hacking
07/11/02 Researchers Report Serious Flaw in IE
06/27/02 Microsoft Releases Critical Patch for Windows Media Player
06/18/02 CERT Warns of Critical Vulnerabilty in Apache Web Server
06/12/02 Sports Fans Beware: World Cup Virus Bounces Around the Net
06/07/02 Dead Man Tell No Passwords
05/31/02 Microsoft Issues Critical Warning Regarding Exchange Server
05/22/02 Microsoft SQL Spida Worm Slows Network Traffic
05/15/02 Virus Hoax 'JDBGMGR.EXE' Spreading Rapidly Thoughout Net
04/25/02 Klez Worm Reels in Banks with its Bait
04/11/02 Ten New Vulnerabilities Discovered in Microsoft IIS Server
04/09/02 New Virus Hoax Circulating Around Net
03/22/02 MyLife.B Virus Makes Its Way Around the Net
03/21/02 Microsoft Updates Its Warning on Critical Windows Vulnerability
03/14/02 New Virus (W32/Fbound-C) Spreading Rapidly in the Wild
03/08/02 Unauthorized E-Mail Scam Attempts to Steer Unwitting Customers to Fraudulent Bank Web Site
03/06/02 Klez-E Worm and W32.Gibe Virus Warnings
03/01/02 CERT Issues Warning on PHP Scripting Language Flaw
02/27/02 CERT Issues Warning on Internet Explorer and Outlook Flaw
02/22/02 SNMP Patches and Detection Tools Available
02/20/02 Email Address Belonging to Legitimate Security Site Hijacked to Deliver Dangerous Yarner Worm
02/15/02 Mass Mailing Email Worm Compromises Word 2000 Security Settings
02/13/02 SNMP VULNERABILITY
02/07/02 Bloodhound Mass Mailing Worm and Managing Risks in Wireless Networks
02/04/02 Microsoft Issues Collection of Security Fixes for Windows 2000
01/31/02 Copycat Virus Unleashed
01/30/02 Netscape Browser Vulnerable to Cookie Theft
01/28/02 "My Party" Mass Mailing Worm
01/18/02 IT Contingency Planning Guide, Information Security Checklist and Solaris Vulnerability
01/15/02 Trojan.StartPage Alters Web Browsers
01/12/02 New Internet Worm Gigger Masquerades as Microsoft Outlook Upgrade
01/08/02 Microsoft Universal Plug and Play Vulnerability
12/20/01 Holiday Themed Computer Virus Unleashed