Viral Pandemonium

Virus: Bofra-B

Bofra-B is a dangerous virus that combines phishing [IS blog] techniques with code that exploits a recent vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer. The virus spreads via emails claiming to document a PayPal purchase and tricks users into clicking a link within the document. Clicking the link can infect an insecure computer.

As a general rule, never click on links within emails claiming to concern financial transactions. Instead, note the name of the site and enter that name into the address bar of your browser. Virus writers and phishers often conceal links to illegitimate sites within seemingly innocuous links--don't trust what you see.

EMU users running Sophos have been protected from Bofra-B since Tue, 09 Nov 2004, 3:41 EST. More information on Bofra-B can be found on the Sophos website.

Virus: Bagle-AU

(Cue scary music) Just in time for Halloween, it's the virus that wouldn't die. There's nothing really new about the most recent Bagle variant, but according to Sophos it is a bit more virulant than some past varieties. As always more information can be found on the Sophos website.