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ORANGE VIRUS ALERT: Mitglieder.GB Trojan Poisons the Internet, Reports Panda Software

Posted on: Friday, 25 November 2005, 18:00 CST

GLENDALE, Calif., Nov. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- The number of infections caused by the Mitglieder.GB Trojan continues to increase, and it now affects computers around the globe. According to data collected by PandaLabs, Belgium, Poland, Colombia and Portugal are the countries most affected by this threat, as it is already the malicious code most frequently detected worldwide by the online antivirus solution Panda ActiveScan (http://www.activescan.com/). To help stop the spread of the new variant of Mitglieder, Panda Software has made its free PQRemove utility available to all users to effectively detect and eliminate Mitglieder.GB from any computer that could be infected. This utility can be downloaded from http://www.pandasoftware.com/download/utilities/

Along with the distribution of the AH variant of the Sober worm, a large number of infected email messages are being put into circulation worldwide, which means that the current risk of infection is high. "Due to the nature of this Trojan, which unlike Sober cannot spread using its own means, we believe that the creators are making a huge effort to distribute it," explains Luis Corrons, director of PandaLabs. "This month we have seen various attacks of this type, which trust more in overflow techniques than sophisticated techniques to saturate the Internet with malware. This, in some way, `poisons' the Internet, as few emails in circulation are free from malware."

It is easy know if this Trojan has affected a computer, as when it is run it shows an image of an operating system logo with a white background in the predefined image viewer in Windows. From then on, every four hours it will activate a connection to one of the URLs detailed in its code at random in order to access a z.php file, which could open the door to other malware or contain malware itself.

This Trojan has been distributed in email messages with a variable subject and message body. However, all these messages contain an attachment in zip format that contains a copy of the Trojan. Therefore, users are advised to take precautions when opening this type of attachment that does not come from a reliable source.

The proactive protection technologies, TruPrevent(TM), have detected and blocked Mitglieder.GB without needing to be able to identify it first, and therefore, without needing the updates. For this reason, computers with these technologies installed have been protected from the moment this threat first appeared.

Panda Software clients that don't yet have TruPrevent(TM) Technologies have the updates available to install them along with their antivirus and ensure they have prevented protection against unknown viruses and intruders. For users with a different antivirus program installed, Panda TruPrevent(TM) Personal is the perfect solution, as it is both compatible with and complements these products, providing a second layer of preventive protection that acts while the antivirus is updated, decreasing the risk of infection. More information about TruPrevent(TM) Technologies at http://www.pandasoftware.com/truprevent

To help as many users as possible scan and disinfect their systems, Panda Software offers its free, online anti-malware solution, Panda ActiveScan, which now also detects spyware, at http://www.activescan.com/. Webmasters who would like to include ActiveScan on their websites can get the HTML code, free from http://www.pandasoftware.com/partners/webmasters.

Panda Software also offers users Virus Alerts, an e-bulletin in English and Spanish that gives immediate warning of the emergence of potentially dangerous malicious code. To receive Virus Alerts just visit Panda Software's website (http://www.pandasoftware.com/about/subscriptions/) and complete the corresponding form.

For further information about these and other computer threats, visit Panda Software's Encyclopedia.

About PandaLabs

Since 1990, its mission has been to analyze new threats as rapidly as possible to keep our clients safe. Several teams, each specialized in a specific type of malware (viruses, worms, Trojans, spyware, phishing, spam, etc), work 24/7 to provide global coverage. To achieve this, they also have the support of TruPrevent(TM) Technologies, which act as a global early- warning system made up of strategically distributed sensors to neutralize new threats and send them to PandaLabs for in-depth analysis. According to Av.Test.org, PandaLabs is currently the fastest laboratory in the industry in providing complete updates to users (more info at http://www.pandasoftware.com/pandalabs.asp).

For more information: Carolina Sanabria Public Relations Manager Panda Software, USA pr@pandasecurity.com Phone: (818) 543-6909

Panda Software

CONTACT: Carolina Sanabria, Public Relations Manager, Panda Software,USA, +1-818-543-6909, pr@pandasecurity.com

Web site: http://www.pandasoftware.com/

Source: PRNewswire

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