Sophos has warned of the Cuebot-K worm. The worm disguises itself as Microsoft’s Windows Genuine Advantage.


Sophos has warned of the Cuebot-K worm. The worm disguises itself as Microsoft’s Windows Genuine Advantage.

The worm spreads through AOL Instant Messenger. The worm registers itself as a new system device service called “wgavn”. The display name is Windows Genuine Advantage Validation Notification.

The program automatically runs during system startup.

Once Cuebot-K installs on the user’s PC, the worm disables the affected computer’s Windows firewall. The worm opens a backdoor to the computer allowing hackers to control the computer through remote access.

The worm also allows hackers to launch denial-of-service attacks.

Sophos is a provider of integrated threat management solutions. Sophos provides protection against known and unknown malware, including viruses, spyware, intrusions and unwanted applications.

LINKS:

For more information on the Cuebot-K worm, click here.

For more information on the company, visit Sophos.