Browser Security News

Unsuspecting users who happen to launch the executable attachment carried by the Storm Worm can inadvertantly open a Pandora’s Box of problems. The Storm Worm can completely take over a PC, allowing the worm writers to control the compromised machine remotely for the purpose of sending out spam, stealing data, or blasting out denial-of-service attacks. As if hundred-mile-per-hour winds aren’t bad enough, a malicious worm is making the rounds in Europe and elsewhere, using e-mailed storm warnings as a way to propagate itself.

In the latest sign that virus writers are getting craftier in their nefarious work, the nasty Storm Worm masquerades as legitimate e-mails with subject lines bearing storm alerts, such as "230 dead as storm batters Europe."

The e-mails are being sent with worm-infected attachments — "video.exe," "fullstor.exe," or "readmore.exe," among other names — designed to wreak all sorts of havoc on PCs. NewsFactor Network | New ‘Storm Worm’ Pummels PCs