The next time you want to download your favorite song (illegally ofcourse :)) from a p2p network or some illegal site, think twice. The latest in malware infection has just been found. According to this report from Kaspersky Lab, there is now a worm to infects your .mp3 files.
From the report, the workings of this worm are as follows:
The worm, which was named Worm.Win32.GetCodec.a, converts mp3 files to the Windows Media Audio (WMA) format (without changing the .mp3 extension) and adds a marker with a link to an infected web page to the converted files. The marker is activated automatically during file playback. It opens an infected page in Internet Explorer where the user is asked to download and install a file which, according to the website, is a codec. If the user agrees to install the file, a Trojan known as Trojan-Proxy.Win32.Agent.arp is downloaded to the computer, giving cybercriminals control of the victim PC.
You can get directly infected by the worm or via an already infected mp3 file downloaded from some malicious site or P2P share. The simple precautions to take against this type of infection are the age-old and time tested ones:
Never run as administrator on your computer. I repeatedly keep hearing that its insane to not be administrator on your own machine. Please note that, if you run as administrator of your own machine, then there is probably another administrator of your machine :). This simple precaution can help mitigate tons of security issues and make attacking your system that more difficult.
Do not install stuff from websites that you do not know or trust i.e. do not randomly click install buttons unless you are absolutely sure.
- If you are really crazy about p2p downloading as if your life depends on it, then try using a VMWare to download stuff. This way, in the event of a compromise, atleast your critical data residing on your real system is protected.
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