NTA Monitor

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New version of network scanning tool arp-scan released

15th March 2011 A new version of a respected and popular network scanning tool has been released. Read More

Tests show rise in number of vulnerabilities affecting web applications with SQL Injection and XSS most common flaws

1st March 2011 SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS) were the most common flaws found in web applications in 2010 according to results from tests carried out by NTA Monitor. Read More

Assess risk to manage effects of budget cuts

9th February 2011 Signs of economic recovery may be appearing in some industries, but for most organisations - particularly in the public sector - budget cuts and cost savings are here to stay for the foreseeable future. Read More

"Basic security threats not changed in 15 years"

1st February 2011 There may have been significant technological advances to the hardware and software organisations use, but according to Roy Hills, who co-founded NTA Monitor in 1996, the basic security threats have not changed in the last 15 years. Read More
Date: 1st February 2006
Risk: Medium

The worm is spread through opening attachments or file sharing and is so far known as Nyxem-E, Blackmal, Blackworm, MyWife, Tearec and Kama Sutra, amongst others; the CME number will be 'CME-24'.

When the worm infects a PC, it will disable many anti-virus programmes and may even delete them. It will then add itself to the list of auto-start programs in your registry and will use a variety of extensions and file names.

Multiple file types will be overwritten by the Nyxem-E virus - .doc, .xls, .mde, .mdb, .ppt, .pps, .rar, .pdf, .psd, .dmp and .zip. When they are overwritten, the error message will be: "DATA Error [47 0F 94 93 F4 K5]"

One ISP, Easynet, started contacting customers that it thought may be infected with the Nyxem-E virus, a move which indicated that either the virus was considered to be very serious, or that ISPs are starting to share the anti-virus responsibility.

To minimise the risk of being affected, do not open attachments from unfamiliar email addresses, ensure that good backups are made and install updates for all anti-virus programmes.

References