W32.Hocgaly.A@mm - Risk Level 2

What is the W32.Hocgaly.A@mm virus?

This question was answered on August 8, 2006. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

---

Discovered: August 2, 2006

Updated: August 3, 2006 04:26:16 PM GDT

Type: Worm

Infection Length: 44,544 bytes

Systems Affected: Windows 2000, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP

W32.Hocgaly.A@mm is a mass-mailing worm that gathers email addresses from the compromised computer It may also perform a denial of service attack against predetermined Web sites.

When W32.Hocgaly.A@mm is executed, it performs the following actions:

1 Creates the following files:

* %System%\winMem.exe - a copy of the worm

* %System%\WinFlag.vxd

* %System%\WinPos.vxd

* %System%\WinSrc.vxd

* %System%\WinMail.vxd

When W32.Hocgaly.A@mm is executed, it performs the following actions:

1 Creates the following files:

* %System%\winMem.exe - a copy of the worm

* %System%\WinFlag.vxd

* %System%\WinPos.vxd

* %System%\WinSrc.vxd

* %System%\WinMail.vxd

Note: %System% is a variable that refers to the System folder By default this is C:\Windows\System (Windows 95/98/Me), C:\Winnt\System32 (Windows NT/2000), or C:\Windows\System32 (Windows XP).

2 Adds the value:

"winMem" = "%System%\winMem.exe"

to the registry subkey:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

so that it is executed every time Windows starts.

3 Adds the value:

"winMem" = "1"

to the registry subkey:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

as an infection marker so that only instance of the worm runs on the compromised computer.

4 Adds the value:

"Zone Labs Client" = ""

to the registry subkey:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

to disable Zone Labs' security software.

5 Displays a dialog box with the following characteristics:

Title: Info

Message body: This program is expired.

6 Gathers email addresses from files with the following extensions and stores them in the file:

* wab

* htm

* dhtm

* shtm

* txt

* php

* asp

* jsp

7 Uses its own SMTP engine to send itself to all email addresses it finds The email has the following characteristics:

From:

One of the following:

%USERNAME%@yahoo.com

[email protected]

Subject:

Hot Girls!

Message body:

Find Somebody To F**k In Your Area Tonight !

Don't stay home alone but join us and meet other singles !

to make contact

now, download file to load Galleries.

Attachment:

One of the following:

Girls.Scr

Girls.pif

8 Stops the following service:

SmcService

9 May perform a denial of service attack against the following Web sites:

* www1.idf.il

* www.haaretz.com

* www.haaretz.co.il

Recommendations

Symantec Security Response encourages all users and administrators to adhere to the following basic security "best practices":

* Turn off and remove unneeded services By default, many operating systems install auxiliary services that are not critical, such as an FTP server, telnet, and a Web server These services are avenues of attack If they are removed, blended threats have less avenues of attack and you have fewer services to maintain through patch updates.

* If a blended threat exploits one or more network services, disable, or block access to, those services until a patch is applied.

* Always keep your patch levels up-to-date, especially on computers that host public services and are accessible through the firewall, such as HTTP, FTP, mail, and DNS services (for example, all Windows-based computers should have the current Service Pack installed.) Additionally, please apply any security updates that are mentioned in this writeup, in trusted Security Bulletins, or on vendor Web sites.

* Enforce a password policy Complex passwords make it difficult to crack password files on compromised computers This helps to prevent or limit damage when a computer is compromised.

* Configure your email server to block or remove email that contains file attachments that are commonly used to spread viruses, such as .vbs, .bat, .exe, .pif and .scr files.

* Isolate infected computers quickly to prevent further compromising your organization Perform a forensic analysis and restore the computers using trusted media.

* Train employees not to open attachments unless they are expecting them Also, do not execute software that is downloaded from the Internet unless it has been scanned for viruses Simply visiting a compromised Web site can cause infection if certain browser vulnerabilities are not patched.

About the author

Posted by Chad of Data Doctors on August 8, 2006

Need Help with this Issue?

We help people with technology! It's what we do.
Contact or Schedule an Appointment with a location for help!