This is a virus detection. Viruses are programs that self-replicate recursively, meaning that infected systems spread the virus to other systems, which then propagate the virus further. While many viruses contain a destructive payload, it's quite common for viruses to do nothing more than spread from one system to another.
A new variant of W32/Netsky@MM has been received which is detected and repaired as W32/Netsky.c@MM with the 4328 DATs and higher (with scanning of compressed files enabled).
This virus spreads via email. It sends itself to addresses found on the victim's machine. The virus also attempts to deactivate the folloing viruses:
Mail propagation The virus may be received in an email message as follows:
From: (forged address taken from infected system)
Subject:
Body:
Attachment:
Note: initial investigation indicates that the worm may email itself either as a binary or as a binary within a ZIP file. This will be updated when analysis is complete.
The mailing component harvests address from the local system. Files with the following extensions are targeted:
It does not send itself to addresses that contain one of the following strings:
The virus sends itself via SMTP - constructing messages using its own SMTP engine. It queries the DNS server for the MX record and connects directly to the MTA of the targeted domain and sends the message.
System changes The worm copies itself into %WinDir% (eg. C:\WINDOWS) folder using the filename SVCHOST.EXE.
Note: A valid file exists in the %Sysdir% directory.
A Registry key is created to load the worm at system start.
Virus removal The virus removes various Registry values. Some of these are associated with other viruses, trojans, and applications.
The following registry key values are deleted:
All Users:Use current engine and DAT files for detection and removal.
Modifications made to the system Registry and/or INI files for the purposes of hooking system startup, will be successfully removed if cleaning with the recommended engine and DAT combination (or higher).
Additional Windows ME/XP removal considerations
Risk Assessment:
Date Discovered:
Type/Sub-Type: