The Infection Rate of the Frethem.K Worm Starts to Decrease
Added: (Thu Jul 18 2002)
Pressbox (Press Release) -
However, a large number of incidents caused by the e-mail worm Grade-A are being recorded, according to Panda ActiveScan, Panda Software’s free online scanner.
The number of infections caused by the Frethem.K worm is gradually decreasing, according to data gathered by Panda Software’s Tech Support services in the last few hours.
However, this reduction in the number of infections with Frethem.K has revealed that another worm, Grade-A, has continued to cause a large number of incidents since it appeared some days ago. In fact, Grade-A is the most frequently detected virus in Spain and the majority of Latin American countries, according to data collected through Panda ActiveScan, Panda Software's free online scanner.
This data should make users wary of this virus, as, unlike Frethem.K, whose most destructive action was flooding mail servers, Grade-A deletes files that are necessary for the infected computer’s functioning, such as AUTOEXEC.BAT, COMMAND.COM, CONFIG.SYS, etc.
Both worms can send themselves via e-mail and use “social engineering”. However, whereas Frethem.K gets into systems in a message with invariable characteristics, the message that carries Grade-A can have 8 different formats.
Unlike Frethem.K, Grade-A cannot run automatically when the message carrying the worm is viewed in Outlook's preview pane, but the user must click the attached file for the worm to carry out its destructive payload.
In any event, Panda Software is advising users to be on their guard and to treat e-mails received in the last few days with caution in order to prevent further incidents with these viruses. Furthermore, the multinational antivirus developer reminds its customers of the need for updating their antivirus solutions at
More information about W32/Klez.F and Grade-A is available from Panda Software’s Virus Encyclopedia, at the following addresses:http://service.pandasoftware.es/library/virusCard.jsp?Virus=W32/Frethem.K and http://service.pandasoftware.es/library/virusCard.jsp?Virus=W32/Grade.A.
About Panda Software's virus laboratory
On receiving a possibly infected file, Panda Software's technical staff gets straight down to work. The file is analyzed and depending on the type, the action taken may include: disassembly, macro scanning, code analysis etc. If the file does in fact contain a new virus, the disinfection and detection routines are prepared and quickly distributed to users.
Contact:
Julie Crosby
jcrosby@pandasoftware.co.uk
+44 (0)870 444 5640