Worm Masquerades as Microsoft Antipiracy Program

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/resource/article/0,aid,126307,pg,1,RSS,RSS,00.asp

W32.Cuebot-K spreads via through AIM and disguises itself as Windows
Genuine Advantage on infected PCs.

Security analysts have detected a new piece of malware that appears to run
as a Microsoft program used to detect unlicensed versions of its operating
system.

The malware has been classified as a worm and spreads through AOL's
Instant Messenger program, said Graham Cluley, senior technology
consultant for Sophos PLC, a security vendor.

Sophos is calling it W32.Cuebot-K, a new variation in the Cuebot family of
malware. The worm has a range of malicious functions. After it's
installed, the worm immediately tries to connect to two Web sites, a sign
it may try to download other bad programs on the machine.

A Nasty Payload

Cuebot-K can disable other software, shut off the Windows firewall,
download new malicious programs, perform basic DDOS (distributed denial of
service) attacks, scan local files and spawn a command prompt, Sophos
said.

Worms that spread through instant messaging programs often appear as
messages or links sent from friends, which trick a user into executing the
program. Cuebot-K propagates by sending itself as a file named "wgavn.exe"
to more people in the user's "Buddy List" but without a message, Cluley
said.

Worm With an Ironic Twist

If installed on a computer, Cuebot-K is registered as a new system device
driver service named "wgavn." When a list of services running on the
computer is summoned, the worm appears as "Windows Genuine Advantage
Validation Notification" Sophos said.

Cuebot-K's registry entry appears as
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\wgavn\.

The worm's ironic ruse comes as Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage
program is being criticized for functioning like spyware. WGA collects
hardware and software data on a user's computer and compares it to a
database of licensed operating systems.

If an improper copy is detected, Microsoft warns the user and cuts off
some free downloads.

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