Why would Microsoft send you an announcement of a new
antivirus product from Russia? It wouldn't. Yet the author of the Apher worm
(w32.apher@mm) is willing to bet someone will fall for it. Unfortunately, Apher
includes a known Trojan horse, Backdoor.Death.25, which provides an attacker
access to the compromised computer. Because Apher sends e-mail but doesn't directly
damage computer files, the worm ranks a 4 on the ZDNet Virus Meter.
How it works
Apher appears to be e-mail from Microsoft announcing the arrival of new
antivirus software from Kaspersky, a Russian antivirus company. The subject
line reads: "Protect Your NetWare with KasperskyTM Anti-Virus." . The
body text reads:
-
"Kaspersky Labs, an
international data-security software developer, announces the official release
of Kaspersky Anti-Virus 4.0. "We are pleased to present the latest version
of our anti-virus product. The unique technology, updated design, and perfected
administering system integrated into Kaspersky Anti-Virus 4.0 is the result of
many years of work dedicated to improving the ease of working with the program and
increasing computer defense reliability," said Natalya Kaspersky,
Kaspersky Labs CEO. The new Kaspersky Anti-Virus version (Personal Pro,
Personal, Lite) fully supports the Microsoft Windows XP operating system.
Amongst this version's latest innovations are: a complete user interface upgrade
corresponding to Tree Chart technology; perfected system installation that
allows for the saving the configuration of previously installed versions, and a
quarantine feature for isolating infected and suspicious objects; expanded
treatment of infected archived files; an added function for the treatment of
Microsoft Outlook Express and objects upon system start up and also a memory
scanning of active applications; and simplified operating features for disk
recovery.
Best regards,
If you have any questions
please call
+1(866) 7280-290
The Apher worm includes an attached file: "aaprices.exe"
Prevention
Users of Microsoft Outlook 2002 and users of Outlook 2000 who have installed
the Security Update should be safe from the attached EXE file in Apher. Users
who have not upgraded to Outlook 2002 or who have not installed the Security
Update for Outlook 2000 should do so. In general, do not open attached files in
e-mail without first saving them to hard disk and scanning them with updated
antivirus software. Contact your antivirus vendor to obtain the most current
antivirus signature files that include Apher.
Removal
A few antivirus software companies have updated their signature files to
include this worm. This will stop the infection upon contact and in some cases
will remove an active infection from your system. For more information, see F-Secure, Kaspersky, or Sophos.
