What is the Black Worm Virus?

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The blackworm virus is an e-mail worm that spread back in 2004. According to eWeek.com, the blackworm had the ability to disable anti-virus programs and other security types. By 5:00 p.m. on Jan 24, 2004, the worm infected more than 700,000 computers. Finnish anti-virus vendor F-Secure, said the worm accounted for more than 17 percent of all virus infections during 24 hours of tracking viruses.

The blackworm used the “lure of sexually explicit Kama Sutra images” to trick “e-mail users into executing an attachment, (which) is programmed to deliver the destructive payload on the third day of every month.” Also called blackmail, MyWife, and Nyxem, blackworm disables anti-virus in order to destroy Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, ZIP, and PSD files. The files are destroyed on all available disk drives. Unfortunately, once files and data have been destroyed, it cannot be recovered by simply going to the recycle bin.

Microsoft reacted to the blackworm virus threat by plugging two critical e-mail server holes. One hole presented a remote unauthenticated attack vector that could leave corporate e-mail servers open to a destructive network worm attack. The worm infected Microsoft Office 2000, Microsoft Office XP, Microsoft Outlook 2002, and Microsoft Office 2003.

Today, blackworm is no longer a threat, but thousands of other worms and computer viruses are. To protect your computer against these threats, always keep virus protection up to date and if at all possible, always opt for the very best brands and programs. Some of the to brands in the industry BitDefender, Kaspersky, Norton AntiVirus, and McAfee Antivirus.

Malicious Software Removal Tools

Microsoft offers a free software removal tool called Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool. It checks Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows Server 2003 computers for and helps remove infections by specific, prevalent malicious software including Blaster Worm, Sasser, and Mydoom. When the detection and removal process is complete, the tool displays a report describing the outcome, including which, if any, malicious software was detected and removed. The tool creates a log file named mrt.log in the %WINDIR%\debug folder. Version 1.30 adds Win32/Allaple to the list of malicious software this tool detects.

You can download directly from the Microsoft website or Cnet.com.

About Viruses and Worms

Computer viruses and worms are pretty much one in the same. No matter if you have a worm or a virus, these malicious software programs can cause your computer to run slow, the can make it vulnerable to other worms and viruses, or they can complete disable your system. A worm or virus is a malicious software program. A worm or virus can either slow your system down to a crawl or disable it completely.

Unlike a Trojan Horse, which is a malicious software program that cannot reproduce or self-replicate, a worm virus has the ability to multiply at a rapid pace. A worm or virus can spread from computer to computer, travel across networks, copy address books and send itself out to everyone in it. A worm or virus can even freeze or disable entire servers. Some of the most sophisticated worms and viruses can actually tunnel into your computer and give users remote access to your computer.

A Trojan Horse may sound less harmful than a worm virus, but it can still cause damage to your computer. A Trojan or “Trojan Horse” will present itself as a helpful program, but once you install it on your computer, it will cripple your system almost immediately. A Trojan Horse may appear in the form of a file or software program that has been sent from a legitimate source. The Trojan Horse will install and a number of things can happen.

Some Trojans will simply rearrange your desktop or add annoying icons to your desktop and others will delete files. Some of the more advanced Trojans can open the door to predators looking to steal your identity. These types of Trojans can give users unlimited access to your system. Trojans do not reproduce or replicate. Worms and viruses, on the other hand, can reproduce, self-replicate and infect other files.

 

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Author: The Top Worm

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