Quick action taken by TelkomInternet has saved its users from a major virus onslaught, after a new virus — W32.Swen.A — appeared last Thursday and started ramping up even faster than the sobig.f and blaster worms, the telecommunications group disclosed on Tuesday.
The W32.Swen.A virus is a variant of Worm.Gibe.F, and is blocked by the TelkomInternet scanner that thwarted more than 5 000 instances on Sunday alone. The virus masquerades as a Microsoft security patch, sets up a mail server on the recipient’s system, asks for the email account details and password, and then starts to spam the world.
The load caused by this virus has trebled the number of incoming mail connections to the TelkomInternet servers, causing mail delivery to slow down.
TelkomInternet has urged email recipients to be on the lookout for the W32.Swen.A virus, and not to gullibly follow the seemingly innocuous instructions that allow it to embed itself on their systems. — I-Net Bridge