Sarampo.1371

SUMMARY

The Sarampo.1371 virus is a rather simple .COM and .EXE file infecting virus which infects files as they are executed. It specifically targets the C:COMMAND.COM file.

Threat Assessment

Wild

• Wild Level: Low
• Number of Infections: 0 - 49
• Number of Sites: 0 - 2
• Geographical Distribution: Low
• Threat Containment: Easy
• Removal: Easy

Damage

• Damage Level: Low

Distribution

• Distribution Level: Low

TECHNICAL DETAILS

When the virus loads itself into memory, it performs a date check to look for a system date setting that matches any one of this virus’s trigger dates. Should the system date match one of the trigger dates, the screen fills with random garbage and displays the following text:

Do you like this Screen Saver ? I hope so.

Created by Sarampo virus.

Since this virus does not use any stealthing techniques, infected files are easily spotted: The file size changes and the time stamp changes to 1:13pm.

Contained within the body of the virus is the following text:

c:command.com

Do you like this Screen Saver? I hope so

Created by Sarampo virus

MZ

Recommendations

Symantec Security Response encourages all users and administrators to adhere to the following basic security "best practices":

• Turn off and remove unneeded services. By default, many operating systems install auxiliary services that are not critical, such as an FTP server, telnet, and a Web server. These services are avenues of attack. If they are removed, blended threats have less avenues of attack and you have fewer services to maintain through patch updates.
• If a blended threat exploits one or more network services, disable, or block access to, those services until a patch is applied.
• Always keep your patch levels up-to-date, especially on computers that host public services and are accessible through the firewall, such as HTTP, FTP, mail, and DNS services (for example, all Windows-based computers should have the current Service Pack installed.). Additionally, please apply any security updates that are mentioned in this writeup, in trusted Security Bulletins, or on vendor Web sites.
• Enforce a password policy. Complex passwords make it difficult to crack password files on compromised computers. This helps to prevent or limit damage when a computer is compromised.
• Configure your email server to block or remove email that contains file attachments that are commonly used to spread viruses, such as .vbs, .bat, .exe, .pif and .scr files.
• Isolate infected computers quickly to prevent further compromising your organization. Perform a forensic analysis and restore the computers using trusted media.
• Train employees not to open attachments unless they are expecting them. Also, do not execute software that is downloaded from the Internet unless it has been scanned for viruses. Simply visiting a compromised Web site can cause infection if certain browser vulnerabilities are not patched.