The FBI is actively seeking the creator of the aggressive MyDoom e-mail worm, while the company targeted by the worm is offering a reward for the arrest and conviction of the author.
MyDoom, which first surfaced on Monday afternoon, now accounts for at least one in nine e-mail messages sent globally. Anti-virus software vendors say it could overtake Sobig.F as the most prevalent Internet worm of all time.
MyDoom carries multiple malicious payloads, including the ability to turn MyDoom infected machines into transparent proxies to launch other attacks. The worm listens for commands on TCP/IP port 3127, effectively awaiting further instructions from the virus author.
MyDoom is also designed to launch a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack against the SCO Group. SCO is the software group currently involved in legal battles over the use of code for the Linux operating system. The group is offering a $250 000 reward for the arrest and conviction of the MyDoom authors.
The FBI announced late yesterday that it was launching a probe into the worm. "We are aware of it and we are actively investigating," said FBI spokesperson Paul Bresson. The FBI is also still seeking the authors of the SoBig worm and last year arrested two people believed to have been responsible for creating the Blaster virus.
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