Bugs and Fixes: Worms Find New Ways to Snare Your PC

Think you're safe from worms? Guess again. These devious programs, which replicate by weaving around networks, are starting to show up in places I never expected.

Two of the most recent worms were found lurking in Microsoft MSN Messenger and Adobe Acrobat files. Both are fairly harmless, but they demonstrate how vulnerable our PCs are to smart bad guys.

First, the MSN Messenger worm: This pest, called W32/Annoying.Worm, appears in your instant messaging session masquerading as a picture file. If you click the file (named pic1234.exe), a fake error message will pop up, telling you that the file has been corrupted. Then the worm infects your system.

Afterward, every time you start your PC, the sneaky program loads too. The worm watches for you to begin a chat session and then pretends to be you. You'll see the worm shoot a message to your chat-mate that asks, "Hey, want me to send my new pic?" If the other person answers with "yes," "sure," or other similar affirmatives, it whisks off a copy of itself to the unsuspecting victim, and the cycle starts all over again.

Head over to Symantec or McAfee to get worm-removal instructions. If you run Symantec's Norton AntiVirus software, any virus definition file dated August 8 or later will protect your PC. Any McAfee DAT (virus definition) file numbered 4154 or later will block the worm's chokehold.

The second worm affects files that I always felt were safe, but no longer. Now, even Adobe Acrobat files can carry malicious intruders and target your in-box. Watch for an e-mail message that contains words or phrases on the Subject line such as "Find the peach" or "Joke." The tainted file may be named "joke.pdf" or "search.pdf."

Opening the file in Acrobat and clicking a prominent icon unleashes the worm; it mails a copy of itself to 100 names in your Outlook address book. Called VBS/PeachyPDF@MM, the worm needs the full Adobe Acrobat program (version 5 or later) to run amok; if you have only Acrobat Reader installed, you're okay.

You can get additional info from Symantec or McAfee. McAfee users who have DAT file numbered 4154 or later are safe. And Norton users are protected with virus definition files dated August 7 or later.