VBS.Sinep.A@mm

SUMMARY

VBS.Sinep.A@mm uses Microsoft Outlook to send itself to all recipients in your Outlook address book. It also sets itself up to run every time that the computer restarts.

Protection

• Virus Definitions (Intelligent Updater) March 23, 2001

Threat Assessment

Wild

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

Damage

• Damage Level: Low
• Payload Trigger: Running an infected attachment
• Payload: Mails itself out to all recipients in the Outlook Address Book
• Large Scale E-mailing: Mails itself out to all recipients in the Outlook Address Book
• Causes System Instability: Could clog e-mail servers

Distribution

• Distribution Level: High
• Subject of Email: cool Teen Nude Slideshow, check it
• Name of Attachment: TeenSlideshow.scr
• Size of Attachment: 1,517 bytes

TECHNICAL DETAILS

The email message that is sent by the worm is as follows:

Subject: cool Teen Nude Slideshow, check it
Message: Check out this, 16yrs old strips all the way!
Attachment: = "TeenSlideshow.scr"

The worm copies itself to C:WindowsSystemWinSystem.vbs and C:WindowsSystemTeenSlideshow.scr.

It also creates the following registry keys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoft                                                                              WindowsCurrentVersionRunSubSix

with the value:

wscript.exe  C:WINDOWSSYSTEMWinSystem.vbs

and

HKEY_CURRENT_USERsoftwareSubSixPenis

with a value of either 1 or 0. The value 0 is changed to 1 after VBS.Sinep.A@mm successfully sends itself out.

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, you need to delete files detected as VBS.Sinep.A@mm, and then undo the changes made to the Windows registry:

To delete the 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.Sinep.A@mm.

To edit the registry:

CAUTION: We strongly recommend that you back up the system registry before making any changes. Incorrect changes to the registry could result in permanent data loss or corrupted files. Please make sure you modify only the keys specified. Please see the document How to back up the Windows registry before proceeding.

1. Click Start, and click Run. The Run dialog box appears.
2. Type regedit and then click OK. The Registry Editor opens.
3. Navigate to and select the following key:
   
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoft                                                                           WindowsCurrentVersionRunSubSix
   
4. Press Delete, and then click Yes to confirm.
5. (Optional) Delete the following key:
   
   HKEY_CURRENT_USERsoftwareSubSixPenis
   
6. Exit the Registry Editor.