German virus makes PCs kaput

A computer virus which poses as a message from a newsletter from Trojaner Info, a popular German antivirus portal, has made its debut on the Net.

The Yarner worm is a mass mailer, which spreads using its own SMTP routine - if a user is foolish enough to execute an infected attachment (normally called yawsetup.exe). Seven variants of the worm have been detected and users are urged to be particularly cautious of any emails with the subject line "Trojaner-Info Newsletter".

After a period of running on the system, the worm executes its destructive payload and attempts to delete all files from the hard drive. As usual, the virus only affects Windows PCs - Apple Mac and Linux users are not at risk.

The body of virus-infected emails carries a message written in German; antivirus vendors report the spread of worm among German users, though Yarner is far from reaching the spread associated with other recent virus outbreaks.

Antivirus vendors are updating anti-virus signatures to detect the virus and protection is now largely in place.

External links
Analysis on Yarner by Sophos

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