VBS.Eyemagic@mm

SUMMARY

VBS.Eyemagic@mm is a worm that attempts to spread using mIRC (a popular chat client) and Microsoft Outlook. The worm itself is detected as VBS.Eyemagic@mm, and the Script.ini file used to spread via IRC is detected as IRC.Eyemagic.

VBS.Eyemagic@mm is, like many other worms, written in the Visual Basic scripting language. Due to the fact that many worms are written in the Visual Basic scripting language, SARC offers a tool to disable the Windows Scripting Host.

NOTE: Definitions prior to February 21, 2001, will detect this worm as Bloodhound.VBS.Worm.

Protection

• Virus Definitions (Intelligent Updater) February 21, 2001

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
• Large Scale E-mailing: Emails everyone in the Microsoft Outlook address book

Distribution

• Distribution Level: Medium
• Subject of Email: One subjectline out of four is randomly chosen when the worm is executed
• Name of Attachment: Magic_Eye.vbs
• Size of Attachment: 35335 bytes

TECHNICAL DETAILS

When executed, this worm attempts to spread itself using Microsoft Outlook. The subject of the email is randomly selected, and will be one of the following:

• Magic Eye
• Good magic eye
• This really works
• Eye magic

The body of the email is static, and is always:

This is good !!!!
If you lower the fontsize it looks better.

The name of the attachment is Magic_eye.vbs.

Once VBS.Eyemagic has attempted to spread using Microsoft Outlook, it starts searching for mIRC. If found, the worm modifies the Script.ini file. This causes an infected computer to send the worm to other IRC users, most probably without their knowledge. Norton AntiVirus detects the Script.ini file as IRC.Eyemagic.

Finally, this worm opens Notepad and displays an image made up of ASCII characters.

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.

REMOVAL

To remove this worm:

1. Run LiveUpdate to make sure that you have the most recent virus definitions.
2. Start Norton AntiVirus (NAV), and run a full system scan, making sure that NAV is set to scan all files.
3. Delete any files detected as VBS.Eyemagic@mm or IRC.Eyemagic.