Worm Spreads By Posing As Virus Fix

The worm, dubbed Sober by security firms, spreads via e-mail, contains a host of different subject lines in both German and English, and delivers its payload via an attached file that claims to be a fix for a bogus worm.

Among the subject lines seen in copies of the worm are those that prey upon users' fears of security problems, such as "A worm is on your computer," "You have sent me a virus," and "New Sobig-Worm variation (please read)."

The attached file can be disguised with .exe, .scr, .bat, or .pif extensions. Opening the file propagates the worm to the target PC.

Sober has had its greatest impact in Europe, particularly the U.K. and Germany, and is currently considered a low or medium risk by most security firms. Symantec, for instance, ranks it as a '2' in its 1 through 5 scale.

This story courtesy of TechWeb .