Worm

BEIJING Aug 16 -- A worm targeting newly announced flaws in
Microsoft's Windows operating system is circulating on the Internet, an
anti-virus software maker has said.

Trend Micro Inc. said the Zotob virus exploits security holes in
Windows 95, 98, ME, NE, 2000 and XP platforms and can give hackers
remote access to affected systems, according to Reuters.

The worm drops a copy of itself into the Windows system folder as
BOTZOR.EXE and modifies the system's host file in the infected machine
to prevent the user from getting online help from anti-virus Web sites,
Trend Micro said.

The virus can also connect to a specific Internet relay chat server
and give attackers remote control over affected systems, which can be
used to infect other unpatched computers in a network.

While early reports suggested Zotob was spreading rapidly, its
impact has actually been limited because it targets Windows 2000, an
older version of the software, Microsoft said. It poses no threat to
computers running the newer Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, the
company added.

Microsoft warned of three "critical" security flaws in its software
last week, including one that could allow attackers to comandeer a
computer.

Computer users should update their anti-virus pattern files and
apply the latest Microsoft patches to fix the security flaws, Trend
Micro said. Enditem