Tue Jun 13, 1:50 AM ET
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news), the world's
largest provider of e-mail services, said on Monday that a software
virus aimed at Yahoo Mail users had infected "a very small
fraction" of its base of more than 200 million accounts.
The e-mail virus, or worm, has been dubbed Yamanner and landed in
Yahoo mailboxes bearing the headline "New Graphic Site." Once
opened, the message infects the computer and spreads to other users
listed in Yahoo users' e-mail address books, security experts
said.
The e-mail containing the virus need only be opened -- in contrast
to most worms that are hidden in attachments and require users to
take an additional step -- to release the virus, according to
computer security site Symantec Corp..
The Sunnyvale, California-based company advised users to update
virus and firewall software on their computers and to block any
e-mail sent from the address "[email protected]"
"We have taken steps to resolve the issue and protect our users
from further attacks of this worm," Yahoo spokeswoman Kelley Podboy
said in a statement.
"When we learn of e-mail abuse, such as a worm or other online
threat, we take appropriate action," she said. "(A) solution has
been automatically distributed to all Yahoo Mail customers, and
requires no additional action on the part of the user."
Yamanner, first detected by Yahoo and major computer anti-virus
software makers earlier on Monday, was ranked as having a low
threat level by Trend Micro Inc. and McAfee Inc.
But Symantec considers the worm an "elevated threat," one step up
from the lowest ranking in terms of relative danger.
Symantec's Security Response site suggested Yahoo Mail users might
protect themselves by upgrading to the latest test version of the
recently upgraded Yahoo Mail software.
"The worm cannot run on the newest version of Yahoo Mail Beta,"
Symantec's site said.
A Yahoo spokesman was not immediately available to comment on
whether the company advised users to do this.
The worm exploits a vulnerability in Javascript technology used to
make the mail program easier to use by triggering embedded HTML
scripts to run in the computer user's browser.
The e-mail addresses are also sent to a remote online computer
server, which may be used to run spam campaigns, experts said. The
technical name of the worm goes by variants of "JS.Yamanner."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060613/ts_nm/yahoo_virus_dc_7