Kaspersky Labs issues free software for the worm's detection and removal In only six days since its detection on July 18, the network worm "SirCam" has spread throughout the world and has convincingly seized first place amongst the most wide-spreading malicious programs. At this time, Kaspersky...
Kaspersky Lab issues free software for the worm's detection and removal
In only six days since its detection on July 18, the network worm "SirCam" has spread throughout the world and has convincingly seized first place amongst the most wide-spreading malicious programs. At this time, Kaspersky Lab' technical support department has received tens of thousands of messages from France, the USA, Canada, China, Russia, Spain, India, United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, Italy, Turkey, Argentina, and many other countries reporting infection by "SirCam."
"'SirCam' uses the same technological means for spreading and penetrating a computer as the infamous worms 'Loveletter' and 'Melissa' and their like. 'SirCam's' spreading ability confirms the fact that many users haven't learned their lesson from the previous global epidemics, and even to this point have not grasped the importance of timely adding anti-virus updates and using caution when dealing with e-mail attachments from even known sources," said Denis Zenkin, Head of Corporate Communications for Kaspersky Lab.
"SirCam" spreads as a file attachment to an e-mail, and at the same time, this file does not have a consistent name, extension and a message text. In addition to this, the worm is sent out from infected computers supposedly on behalf of its creator. In order to do this unbeknownst to a user, it creates fake e-mails and sends them to all addresses found in the infected PC. Such a lack of outer-appearance continuity has fooled many users into believing in the sent-files' authenticity and safety. Without suspecting foul play, users open these files on their computers, single-handedly infecting their own systems.
Defense procedures for thwarting the "SirCam" network worm already have been added to KasperskyTM Anti-Virus database as of July 18. Kaspersky Lab strongly urges users to download and install the "SirCam" update.
For those using a different anti-virus, Kaspersky Lab has developed a special detection utility for complete "SirCam" eradication (including Windows system registry recovery). You may download the program free of charge here.
More in-depth information about the "SirCam" worm is available in the Kaspersky Virus Encyclopedia.
