Putting Locks On The Bagle Trojan
New bagles are flooding the web and it’s not through your local bakery either. The British security company, SophosLabs, continues to monitor the flow of new versions of the Troj/BagleDI-U Trojan horse by spamming millions of email addresses.
The attacks started on Monday morning, around 10:00 a.m. EDT and continued until 5:00 p.m. EDT. Then the malevolent hacker began the process again on Tuesday at the same time.
This bagle is a nasty little bugger too. All the versions go into computers and attempt to turn off anti-virus and security software and block access to security websites so hackers can run rampant through infected machines.
According to Sophos ,the messages can be identified by a number of criteria: the subject line is blank, the body message test is “new price,” and the file itself could be multiple name but follow similar lines like “09_price.zip,” “price_new.zip” or “price2.zip.” Be on the look out for these conspicuous suspects.
"This is the second massive email attack phase from this hacker in two days - the creator is obviously intent on infecting as many people as possible," said Carole Theriault, senior security consultant at Sophos, on their website. "All computer users should avoid opening unsolicited email attachments, and ensure that their anti-virus protection is up to date. Businesses should also consider blocking all executable code from entering their networks via email - most companies have no need to receive computer programs via this route, and it dramatically reduces the risk of infection".
This onslaught for computers is creating havoc because of the nature of this beast, it shuts down PC security measures already in place. There are tons of these variants going out and security companies will need to be on their toes. A number of experts at these various companies have suggested this is just the beginning of a massive attack against computer so hackers can add more zombie PCs to their stocks so much of this can’t be traced back to them.
As hackers continue to get more aggressive in their pursuits, computer users must remain vigilant. As recommended by Sophos, make sure unknown email attachments are gotten rid of. Also make sure updates are done regularly both for virus and firewall protection but also through whatever browser and OS package one uses, either at home or at work. Also be careful of adware and spyware. These basic tasks won’t stop everything but they will certainly go along way toward protecting both the home PC and the computers at the office.
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