'Bots' virus strikes networks

2005-08-17 11:24

Palo Alto, California - Two new computer threats - called "bots" - struck at corporate networks on Tuesday, adding to the woes facing computer users this week, security experts said.

The two new "bots" are similar to worms, which duplicate rapidly inside computer networks and overwhelm the networks with traffic congestion.

They have been named "Zotob.e" and "ESbot," and both have been labelled Category 3 dangers, said Oliver Friedrichs, senior manager at Symantec Corp (SYMC). A Category 5 is the highest level of concern.

Category 3 "indicates the threat is relatively prevalent," said Friedrichs.

So far, 40 corporations have reported finding Zotob.e and 85 have reported seeing ESbot. Both are exploiting the same vulnerability as the original "Zotob," which showed up on Sunday and took advantage of a defect in the Plug and Play feature of Windows servers that allows new hardware to be more easily installed.

Friedrichs said the aim of the two bots is to infiltrate a computer and await a signal from a hacker. Once the signal is received, the bot might launch a denial-of-service attack, during which it would flood a website or another computer with messages.

Symantec said it had developed software tools to detect and remove the two bots.

In a statement, Microsoft Corp (MSFT) said it, too, was actively investigating the new computer threats. The company advised infected companies to contact local offices of the FBI or post complaints on the Internet Fraud Complaint Centre Web site. Customers also should install the most recent security updates and patches from Microsoft, the company said.

- Dow Jones