Security management Toolkit

Sobig.F prevention and cure

Tags:
Worm,
Advice,
,
Virus

Robert Lemosi ZDNet

Published: 20 Aug 2003 09:25 BST

Sobig.F (w32.sobig.f@mm) spreads via email and shared network files and could slow email servers with excessive traffic, so it rates a 7 on the ZDNet Virus Meter.

This worm affects only Windows computers, not Mac, Linux, or Unix systems. Like its siblings, Sobig.F has a built-in termination date, 10 September, 2003, and can attempt to retrieve, download, and finally execute a Trojan to steal credit card numbers and other personal account information. But Sobig.F differs in that it appends garbage characters to the end of the infected file, making it harder for antivirus products to recognise Sobig.F.

How it works
Sobig.F arrives as an email with the following characteristics: The From and To addresses are collected from infected PCs, from files ending with the extensions .dbx, .eml, .htm, .html, .txt, and .wab.

The Sobig.F subject line reads:

Re: Details
Re: Approved
Re: Re: My details
Re: Thank you!
Re: That movie
Re: Wicked screensaver
Re: Your application
Thank you!
Your details

Its body text reads:

See the attached file for details
Please see the attached file for details.

The file attached to Sobig.F is:

application.pif
details.pif
document_9446.pif
document_all.pif
movie0045.pif
thank_you.pif
your_details.pif
your_document.pif
wicked_scr.scr

When executed, the worm will add the following to the system registry:

[HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] "TrayX" = %windir%\winppr32.exe /sinc
[HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] "TrayX" = %windir%\winppr32.exe /sinc

Prevention
In general, do not open email attachments without first saving them to hard disk and scanning them with updated antivirus software. If you do not have automatic antivirus signature file updates, contact your antivirus vendor to obtain the most-current antivirus signature files that include Sobig.F.

Removal Most antivirus-software companies have updated their signature files to include this worm. The updates will stop the infection upon contact and, in some cases, will remove an active infection from your system. For more information, see Central Command, Computer Associates, F-Secure, McAfee, MessageLabs, Norman, Panda, Sophos, Symantec, and Trend Micro.

Did you find this article useful?
72 out of 183 people found this useful

More In Security management

Company/Topic Alerts

Create a new alert from the list below:

Featured Talkback

It seems to me this is a burden being placed on the wrong shoulders. There is not an It system in the world that can stop an individual taking information in their heads and spewing out at the nearest undesirable third party.