A destructive MSN Messenger virus has been infecting computers across Taiwan over the past week.
Thousands of users have received a link from friends, only to click on it and discover a backdoor virus has been installed on their computers, potentially giving someone else control over it.
Users who have had their PCs infected said that clicking on the MSN link caused their list of contacts to disappear and it became impossible to close MSN Messenger.
Some users also said that data was wiped off their computers, while others found nothing untoward after clicking on the Messenger link.
MSN representatives said that they were not yet clear how widespread the virus was.
Representatives of Microsoft Taiwan's MSN department said that by following the infected link, they have detected a backdoor virus named BKDR_RINBOT.A, which can access information or record keystrokes.
However, providers of antivirus software believed a different virus was involved.
Patrick Wang (王岳忠), a systems engineer manager from Symantec Greater China said that the virus really was the Backdoor.irc.Bot virus, which turned the computer into a "zombie" that can be controlled by a hacker.
Wang said that it was not a new virus and that it was added to Symantec's virus definitions as early as 2003. At that time, it was passed on via e-mail, but it is now instead being spread via real time communications software.
The virus uses the contact list to send the link so that the recipient will be taken off guard. The purpose of this kind of attack is two-fold: to obtain more contacts to continue to spread the virus, and to gain full control of the infected computer, Wang said.
A representative of TrendLab at antivirus software manufacturer Trend Micro said that infected computers would execute the virus every time the computer was rebooted and tried to connect to an IRC chat room server so that computers connecting to that server would become infected by the virus.
That would allow a hacker to alter files on the infected computer and even launch an attack on a Web site.
TrendLab also warned that it was becoming increasingly common for viruses to be spread via communication applications and that "Bot" viruses that turn computers into "zombies" were increasing by 15 percent every month. It also said the reason Microsoft had identified a different virus could be because it carried another virus or was mutating.
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
RSS