Skype worm on the loose: Websense

By Munir Kotadia, ZDNet Australia
Tuesday, December 19, 2006 10:48 AM

Internet security firm Websense has discovered a worm that uses Skype to propagate.

Skype is best known for allowing its subscribers to make free telephone calls over the Internet. The company has over seven million subscribers and was acquired just over a year ago by online auction firm eBay for US$2.6 billion.

Early reports indicate the worm sends messages via Skype Chat, which is an instant messenger tool, asking recipients to download and run a file called sp.exe.

Once the file is executed, it installs spyware that can steal passwords and other personal information. It also connects to a remote server to download additional code.

According to Websense, the worm seems to have come from the Asia-Pacific region--possibly Korea.

The number of people affected is still unclear.


WORTHWHILE?

0

0 votes
Blog

Talkback 0 comments

There are currently no comments for this post.


Tech Jobs Now!

Search for your ideal tech job:

Common ways IT wastes money on development

Web Development

Examples include using developers as support staff and failing to calculate a project's ROI before giving it the go-ahead.


Read more »



  • Enterprise 2.0

    Vince Casarez, vice president of product management at Oracle, explains how Web 2.0 technologies, such as tags, wikis, and mash-ups, can be applied within an organization.
    Play video


  • Nehalem Architecture

    What makes next-generation Intel® Microarchitecture (Nehalem) such a superior successor?
    Play video

 
On demand CRM goes strategic
CRM technology has come of age, and is now able to align with your customer strategy and grow in step with your business.

» Learn more about Oracle’s CRM Solutions



Free the untapped potential of your IT infrastructure
Reduce bottlenecks to drive the efficiency and productivity of Business IT.
» Ultimate virtualization blade
» Scalable SAN solution
» Accelerate service delivery

Could this be the most critical budget for India?

Blog thumbnail

For business journalists in India, budget time is excitement time. It's like sports journos covering the Olympics. As a newspaper correspondent, I too had my fill of budget-time excitement. But..... by Swati Prasad

Read more »

Tags

  1. attack
  2. bank
  3. blog
  4. data security
  5. e - mail
  6. hacking
  7. internet
  8. malware
  9. microsoft corp.
  10. network
  11. network security
  12. pc security
  13. researcher
  14. security
  15. security management
  16. software
  17. spam and phishing
  18. u.s.
  19. viruses and worms
  20. web