NetXactics, local distributor for Sophos, a world leader in protecting businesses against viruses and spam, have warned computer users to be on their guard against a new variant of the Sober e-mail worm which has been sighted in the wild.
The Sober-F worm (W32/Sober-F) was spotted over the weekend, spreading via e-mail systems using a variety of subject lines including `Oh my God`, `Hi, it`s me`, `Well, surprise?!` and `Bad Gateway`.
Users who launch the attached file invoke the virus, which harvests e-mail addresses it finds on the computer`s hard drive. The worm then forwards itself onto the list of e-mail addresses it has discovered, sending itself in the form of a German language message if it determines it is being sent to a German e-mail address.
"This latest incarnation of the Sober worm is capable of clogging up e-mail systems and stealing bandwidth with the number of e-mails it can generate," said Brett Myroff, CEO of NetXactics.
"The fact that this worm appeared over the weekend underlines how vital it is for users to automate their anti-virus updates. All companies should wake up to the importance of filtering dangerous content at the e-mail gateway."
In a sneaky twist, the worm can append a message to the bottom of infected e-mails claiming that it has already been virus scanned, and no malware has been detected.
"The ploy of adding a `No viruses found` message at the bottom of the e-mail is deliberately designed to appeal to those who are too impatient to practise safe computing," continued Myroff.
Sophos recommends companies protect their e-mail with a consolidated solution to thwart the virus and spam threats as well as secure their desktop and servers with automatically updated anti-virus protection.
Further details about Sober-F can be found at: http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/analyses/w32soberf.html
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NetXactics is a South African-based company, focused on the provision of security solutions. It is the sole distributor in Sub-Saharan Africa for UK-based Sophos Plc, one of the leaders in the provision of anti-virus and anti-spam software for the corporate environment. For more information, visit NetXactics at www.netxactics.co.za.
Sophos
Sophos is one of the world`s largest specialist developers of anti-virus and anti-spam software. Headquartered in the UK, the company designs solutions specifically to protect businesses and organisations, including large corporations, banks and governments, from viruses and spam.
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