Bizex Worm Attacks ICQ

A new instant messaging worm, dubbed Bizex, is making the rounds, targeting ICQ users with invitations to visit a site that can install malicious code on the target computer.

Russian antivirus company Kaspersky Labs issued a warning about the virus Thursday, terming it an "epidemic" and estimating that 50,000 PCs worldwide have been affected. But a Symantec security researcher says his company has seen only a handful of Bizex infections and ranks the virus's threat level as low.

"We've seen five infections so far," says Brian Dunphy, a Symantec director. "It's one of several new viruses we've picked up today."

Offers Misdirection

The Bizex worm sends a message directing recipients to a Web site called Jokeworld, according to Kaspersky Labs' advisory. Once the site is loaded, Bizex begins infecting the target computer, accessing the recipient's ICQ list to send copies of itself to other users and scanning the infected computer for information on installed payment systems, including those for Wells Fargo and American Express UK, according to the advisory.

Kaspersky Labs representatives say the worm seems to be an attempt to make money by stealing financial information--but the attempt appears to have been short-lived. The security company says the Jokeworld Web site closed down just four hours after the worm made its debut.

Because Bizex requires users to click on a link before any damage can occur, avoiding infection is easy if users follow the precaution of not clicking on unknown links, Dunphy says.