IM Infection Spotted in the Wild

We've seen many of these before, but since it is a new infection, it may be a really threat for your computer. With a continuously growing up popularity, the instant messenger and chatting applications reach every single computer in the world, fact that makes the unpatched and unprotected ones fully vulnerable to the threat. Security vendor Trend Micro has spotted a new worm that spreads itself through instant messaging and chatting application: WORM_IRCBOT.ARB.

Your computer may get infected extremely easy because the worm can be deployed once the user visits a malicious website equipped with the infection. In addition, WORM_IRCBOT.ARB can be installed by another malware, Trend Micro explained. As many other worms, this infection creates special registry entries in order to be sure it is executed every time the operating system is loaded. And when I say operating system, I'm referring to Windows 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP and Server 2003.

And now, the juicy part. "It sends copies of itself to target recipients using certain instant messaging applications", Trend Micro added. This means the worm is able to spread itself by sending its files through instant messaging or chatting applications, where it may find some additional vulnerable computers. Since your contacts receive the file from you, a trusted source, they may download and install it which is at least dangerous if they're not protected.

And if that's not enough, listen to this: "it opens a random port to allow a remote user to connect to the affected system. Once a successful connection is established, the remote user executes commands on the affected system", the security company continued. In other words, the attacker is able to connect to your computer, execute commands and access the data. Scary...

There's not much to do in order to remain protected. All you need to do is to update your antivirus and be sure that the files you download or the websites you visit are clean and will not attempt to deploy any infection.