IM worm installs 'safe' Web browser

A new instant messaging worm installs a rogue Web browser called "Safety Browser" and hijacks the user’s Internet Explorer home page, experts have warned.

The worm, dubbed "yhoo32.explr" by FaceTime Security Labs, was found two weeks ago on the Yahoo instant messaging network and was still active as of Friday, Tyler Wells, senior director of research at FaceTime, a seller of instant messaging security products, said in an interview.

The worm drops the "Safety Browser" on the target’s machine. The rogue browser uses the same icon as Microsoft’s IE Web browser and, when opened, takes users to a site that installs spyware on the PC, FaceTime said. "This is the first recorded incidence of malware installing its own Web browser on a PC," the company said in a statement.

Read the full story (Cnet News)