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First JPEG Virus Posted To Usenet

Posted by timothy on from the one-neck-to-wring dept.

Shawn writes "This could possibly be the worst viruses yet! Earlier this month Microsoft announced a problem in their GDI driver that processes the way JPEG images are displayed. Someone has finally posted an exploit to Usenet. Easynews, a premium Usenet provider, found the virus Sunday afternoon. Up-to-date information about how we found it and what it does is located at www.easynews.com/virus.txt. When this picture is viewed it installs remote management software (winvnc and radmin) and will connect to irc."

2 of 694 comments (clear)

  1. Hacked CNN Advertisments by 8400_RPM · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So what happens when someone hacks the ad server that cnn or google uses, and puts this jpeg up?

    Millions of instant zombies.

    Thats f*cking scarry....

  2. Re:Not particularly well coded by djeca · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Just had a nasty thought... the latest round of IM programs have user-settable "buddy icons" which IIRC can be JPEGs. A worm that used buddy icons to spread could have half the internet infected in 15 minutes, and do it via existing social networks. I hope the MSN and AIM servers are scanning buddy icons to prevent this being used...