Panda Joss-Stick Virus Is Running Amok with the Windows Icons

Fujacks-I and Fujacks-J also known as worm.whboy is running amok with the icons of the Windows operating system, and not only. The virus has already infected several million Chinese computers and has received a five-star severity ranking.

Security vendor Sophos has advised Windows users not to panic and revealed that Panda joss-stick virus is not even close to a pandemic level. The virus converts the icons of compromised programs to an image featuring a panda burning joss-sticks.

However, the two versions of the virus detected by Sophos also allow remote access to the compromised machines and remote arbitrary code execution, alter and steal data, download additional malware, open links to websites, download updates and install themselves in the registry.

According to Sophos, the Panda joss-stick virus is by no means limited to Chinese-language versions of Windows. In fact, Fujacks can just as easy infect English based Windows operating systems. Furthermore, Fujacks is a parasitic virus that uses the existing EXE files as hosts for infection.

"Despite its LAN-crawling ability, Fujacks is unlikely to go unnoticed as it spreads, which seems to mitigate against any sort of pandemic. The virus changes the icons of EXE files to a picture of a panda burning joss-sticks," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "Additionally, the virus leaves some infected files unable to work as usual, and infected computers are likely to be unuseable until they are disinfected. This makes infection rather obvious. We have had one or two reports of infected PCs from Asia, but there is no evidence of any sort of 'devastating' outbreak - at least amongst business users - as suggested elsewhere."