Experts: 'Gigger' worm moving slowly

January 15, 2002 Posted: 9:53 AM EST (1453 GMT)

 

January 15, 2002 Posted: 9:53 AM EST (1453 GMT)

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SAN FRANCISCO, California (Reuters) -- A new computer worm masquerading as a software update from Microsoft Corp. is capable of deleting all files on the hard drive of an infected computer but has so far spread very slowly, an antivirus vendor said Monday.

 

The so-called "Gigger" worm is a low threat since so few computers have been infected, said Vincent Gullotto, senior research director for Network Associates Inc.'s Antivirus Response Team.

 

"It's a mass-mailer with a dangerous payload, but it's not in the wild," he said. "If it was to begin to spread it could cause significant problems."

 

Apparently, few people have been duped into opening the attachment, which has limited the spread of the worm, according to Gullotto.

 

The worm, a self-propagating virus, is written in Java Script and uses Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, and mIRC, Instant Relay Chat channels, to spread.

 

It arrives as an attachment to an e-mail that has a subject line of "Outlook Express Update," and sends itself to addresses in the address book as well as tries to delete all files on the hard drive, according to Gullotto.

 

Copyright 2002 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

 

http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/internet/01/15/gigger.worm.reut/index.html

Johhny in San Fransisco? Jesus these night ops are getting out of hand