Yahoo Says E-Mail Worm Now Contained

June 14, 2006

Yahoo Says E-Mail Worm 'Yamanner' Has Been Contained

The Associated PressSUNNYVALE, Calif. - Yahoo Inc. said Tuesday it has

contained a malicious program aimed at the millions of people who use its e-mail

service, which ranks as the world's largest.

The worm, dubbed " Yamanner, " infected a recipient's computer as soon as the

toxic e-mail was opened. It then scanned contact lists for additional targets,

according to security software maker Symantec Corp.

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo said " a very small fraction " of its more than

200 million e-mail accounts were infected Monday when the problem was first

identified. The worm didn't affect the next version of Yahoo's e-mail service,

which remains in its test, or " beta, " phase.

" We have taken steps to resolve the issue and protect our users from further

attacks of this worm, " Yahoo spokeswoman Kelley Podboy said. " The solution has

been automatically distributed to all Yahoo Mail customers, and requires no

additional action on the part of the user. "

As a precaution against variations on the Yamanner worm, Yahoo advised its

e-mail users to update their antivirus programs and block all incoming

correspondence from av3@... .

The worm arrived in the form of an e-mail containing JavaScript and contains

the words " New Graphic Site " in the subject field, according to Symantec, the

maker of Norton antivirus software.

Unlike many worms that require an attachment to be opened, the latest bug was

unleashed as soon as the e-mail was opened. It burrowed into e-mail contact

lists in search of addresses containing the domains yahoo.com and

yahoogroups.com, according to Symantec.

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