New 'Sober' virus circulating

by admin November 16, 2005 at 6:32 am

There are at least three new variants of the Sober worm spreading across the Internet via e-mail messages. The viruses are activated once a user clicks on an infected attachment.

The new variants of Sober, a worm that first appeared in 2003, are capable of disabling antivirus programs, according to Finland-based company F-Secure.

Antivirus company Kapersky Lab said on its Web site that large numbers of infected e-mails have been intercepted. This confirms, according to the company, that the epidemic was caused by spamming. Kaperskey identified the variants as Sober.u, Sober.v, and Sober.w.

Internet security officials in Germany warned Monday of a possible Sober attack. In recent months, Sober has been used in that country to spread right-wing propaganda.

Read more: CNET News.com