A new variant of the one year old Stration worm for Windows has made the jump from Skype to the ICQ and MSN Messenger networks. For a computer to be infected, a user must first click on a link and then agree to download an executable file. Once installed, the worm will gradually start to send out messages to the victim's contacts. This latest variant popped up earlier this week, according to Chris Boyd, a researcher at FaceTime Communications: "They're using Skype as a jump off into other more established networks. The infection will go looking for other instant messaging clients that are on the PC and then attempt to send the infection message that it initially sends through Skype through these other chat systems."
Instant message worms have spread from network-to-network in the past, but this is the first time Boyd has seen a worm jump from Skype to another network. Stration, also known as "Warezov" or "Stratio", is not widespread and is considered to be a low-risk infection, but over the past year it has morphed into hundreds of variants, and antivirus companies have been having a hard time keeping track of its many iterations. Nobody knows who is behind the worm, but the domains that host the malicious code are registered through a Chinese Internet company.
News source: InfoWorld
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