****Update***** Virus info

[Guest guest]

Hi - Here's an update on the virus/worm attacking yahoo emails and

yahoo groups. Looks like it's not a huge threat and Yahoo is taking

steps to get it under control. Probably still a good idea for

everybody to run a virus scan.

Judi

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Worm Attacks Yahoo E-Mail

Mass-mailing worm exploits a vulnerability in the Web-based e-mail,

but its impact is low.

Kirk, IDG News Service

Monday, June 12, 2006

A mass-mail worm that exploits a vulnerability in Yahoo's Web-based

e-mail is making the rounds but the impact appears to be low,

security vendor Symantec said today.

The worm, which Symantec calls JS.Yamanner@m, is different from

others in that a user merely has to open the e-mail to cause it to

run, said Hogan, senior manager for Symantec Security

Response. Mass-mail worms have usually been contained in an

attachment with an e-mail note encouraging a user to open it.

The worm, written in JavaScript, takes advantage of a vulnerability

that allows scripts embedded in HTML e-mail to run in the users'

browsers. Yahoo users should be able to modify their settings to

block the zero-day exploit, Hogan said.

Symantec rated the worm a Level 2 threat, one notch above its least

harmful ranking. Hogan said the worm did not appear to be spreading

widely, and he did not anticipate the threat level rising.

How It Spreads

When activated, the worms then sends itself to other users in the

victim's address book who also use Yahoo e-mail with the suffixes of

@yahoo.com or . The worm mimics a function within

Yahoo's Web mail called " Quickbuilder, " which allows a user to add

contacts in an address book from received e-mail, Hogan said. The

process, however, is transparent to the victim, he said.

The harvested e-mail addresses are sent to a remote server. Users of

Yahoo Mail Beta do not appear to be affected, Symantec said.

The worm also opens a browser that displays a Web page that does not

appear to contain malicious content.

Although Yahoo's Web e-mail has not been fixed, users are advised to

update virus and firewall definitions and block any e-mail sent from

av3@.... The subject line of the e-mail with the worm

says " New Graphic Site, " and the body says " this is test. "

Yahoo officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,126048,00.asp