Sobig (computer worm)

Sobig (computer worm)

The Sobig Worm was a computer worm that infected millions of Internet-connected, Microsoft Windows computers in August 2003.

Although there were indications that tests of the worm were carried out as early as August 2002, Sobig.A was first found in the wild in January 2003. Sobig.B was released on May 2003. It was first called "Palyh", but was later renamed to Sobig.B after anti-virus experts discovered it was a new generation of Sobig. Sobig.C was released May 31 and fixed the timing bug in Sobig.B. Sobig.D came a couple of weeks later followed by Sobig.E in June 25. On August 19, Sobig.F became known and set a record in sheer volume of e-mails.

The worm was most widespread in its "Sobig.F" variant.

Sobig is a computer worm in the sense that it replicates by itself, but also a Trojan horse in that it masquerades as something other than malware. The Sobig worm will appear as an electronic mail with one of the following subjects:

* Re: Approved
* Re: Details
* Re: Re: My details
* Re: Thank you!
* Re: That movie
* Re: Wicked screensaver
* Re: Your application
* Thank you!
* Your details

It will contain the text: "See the attached file for details" or "Please see the attached file for details." It also contains an attachment by one of the following names:

* application.pif
* details.pif
* document_9446.pif
* document_all.pif
* movie0045.pif
* thank_you.pif
* your_details.pif
* your_document.pif
* wicked_scr.scr

Technical details

The Sobig viruses infect a host computer by way of the above mentioned attachment. When this is started they will replicate by using their own SMTP agent engine. E-mail addresses that will be targeted by the virus are gathered from files on the host computer. The file extensions that will be searched for e-mail addresses are:

* .dbx
* .eml
* .hlp
* .htm
* .html
* .mht
* .wab
* .txt

The Sobig.F variant was programmed to contact 20 IP addresses on UDP port 8998 on August 26, 2003 to install some program or update itself. It is unclear what this program was, but earlier versions of the virus had installed the WinGate proxy server software - a legitimate product - in a configuration allowing it to be used as a backdoor for spammers to distribute unsolicited e-mail.

The Sobig worm was written using the Microsoft Visual C++ compiler, and subsequently compressed using a data compression program called tElock.

The Sobig.F worm deactivated itself on September 10, 2003. On November 5 the same year, Microsoft announced that they will pay $250,000 for information leading to the arrest of the creator of the Sobig worm. To date, the perpetrator has not been caught.

ee also

*Notable computer viruses and worms

External links

* [http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.sobig.f@mm.html Information on Sobig from Symantec]
* [http://www.lurhq.com/sobig-e.html A detailed analysis of how sobig works]
* [http://authortravis.tripod.com Who wrote SoBig? - an analysis of who probably wrote sobig (names names)]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Mydoom (computer worm) — Mydoom, also known as W32.MyDoom@mm, Novarg, Mimail.R and Shimgapi, is a computer virus affecting Microsoft Windows. It was first sighted on January 26, 2004. It became the fastest spreading e mail worm ever (as of January 2004), exceeding… …   Wikipedia

  • Timeline of computer viruses and worms — Contents 1 1960–1969 1.1 1966 2 1970–1979 2.1 1 …   Wikipedia

  • Timeline of notable computer viruses and worms — This is a timeline of noteworthy computer viruses and worms.1970 1979Early 1970s* Creeper virus was detected on ARPANET infecting the Tenex operating system. Creeper gained access independently through a modem and copied itself to the remote… …   Wikipedia

  • List of computer viruses — To aid the fight against computer viruses and other types of malicious software, many security advisory organizations and developers of anti virus software compile and publish lists of viruses. The compilation of a unified list of viruses is made …   Wikipedia

  • Хронология компьютерных вирусов и червей — Здесь приведён хронологический список появления некоторых известных компьютерных вирусов и червей, а также событий, оказавших серьёзное влияние на их развитие. Содержание 1 2012 2 2011 3 2010 4 2009 …   Википедия

  • Computers and Information Systems — ▪ 2009 Introduction Smartphone: The New Computer.       The market for the smartphone in reality a handheld computer for Web browsing, e mail, music, and video that was integrated with a cellular telephone continued to grow in 2008. According to… …   Universalium

  • Mydoom — Mydoom, also known as W32.MyDoom@mm, Novarg, Mimail.R and Shimgapi, is a computer worm affecting Microsoft Windows. It was first sighted on 26 January 2004. It became the fastest spreading e mail worm ever (as of January 2004[update]), exceeding… …   Wikipedia

  • Backdoor (computing) — A backdoor in a computer system (or cryptosystem or algorithm) is a method of bypassing normal authentication, securing remote access to a computer, obtaining access to plaintext, and so on, while attempting to remain undetected. The backdoor may …   Wikipedia

  • November 2003 — November 2003: January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December Events See Also: Iraq Timeline Liberian Crisis North Korean Crisis Hutton Inquiry Bloody …   Wikipedia

  • November 5, 2003 — November 5, 2003= * United States Politics : Democratic intel memo by staff disturbs the US Senate. Senator Zell Miller (D GA) states heads should roll over the memo of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that outlines a strategy to… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”