A new malware program has been released into the Yahoo and Microsoft instant message services. This new malware is completely automated. This means that a user does not have to take any action for the malware to install itself onto their machine – it does it automatically.

So far the malware has been traveling under the radar of many of the top spyware and anti virus programs. It is so new it isn’t being caught and quarantined or deleted yet. What’s worse is that some users, when removing the malware after detecting it on their own, have said that it changes the registry in Windows, causing a blue screen of death on reboot.

In addition to the blue screen of death upon rebooting after removing the software, the software targets the internet while it is installed. As infected users surf the web the program changes ads to reflect hacked ads. The ads shown are actually run by a third party, and are not the ads associated with the site the user is on.

So far, Microsoft and Yahoo have not addressed the issue. The major virus protection software companies and spyware detection software companies have not said whether they will have a fix for catching the malware before it installs in a future update. Just in case it’s wise to update your virus software frequently and to run your instant message programs cautiously until this has been addressed.

Related:

Entry was posted on Saturday, March 8th, 2008 at 12:55 am under Malware.

Read more entries by Leslie Poston.
Stumble It!