Skype Worm targets other popular IM clients

Tom Keating

CTO

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Skype Worm targets other popular IM clients

May 24, 2007

According to the Spyware Guide, a Skype worm is in the wild that not only targets your Skype contacts, it also checks the registry for programs like AIM, Trillian, Yahoo Messenger, Miranda and ICQ and then attempts to send the infection via these other IM/VoIP clients. According to the Spyware Guide, "it uses the tried and tested methods employed by similar infections over the past few months, with the ultimate payload being the Stration Worm." This "cross-breed" worm that goes across multiple popular IM networks is certainly an alarming trend. I should point out that now that Skype features "pay by Skype" (Paypal integration), this gives virus/trojan writers yet another area to target to try and surreptitiously steal funds from their victims.

Here's a screenshot demonstrating the infection being sent to an MSN Messenger client. The Spyware Guide blacked out certain sections for privacy:
MSN Messenger virus spread via infected Skype client