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Discovered:
- May 28, 1999
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Updated:
- February 13, 2007 11:48:30 AM
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Also Known As:
- Trojan Horse, W32.PrettyPark, Trojan.PSW.CHV, CHV, W32/Pretty.worm.unp, I-Worm.PrettyPark [Kaspersky], W32/Pretty.gen@MM [McAfee], W32/Pretty [Sophos], WORM_PRETTYPARK [Trend]
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Type:
- Worm
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Systems Affected:
- Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me
PrettyPark.Worm is a worm that performs similarly to Happy99.Worm. This worm was originally spread through a mass emailing. The program file attached to these email is named PrettyPark.exe. When PrettyPark.exe is executed, it may display the Windows 3D Pipes screen saver. It also does the following:
- It creates a file named Files32.vxd in the \Windows\System folder .
- It modifies the (Default) value from "%1" %* to FILES32.VXD "%1" %* in the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Classes\exefile\shell\open\command
- It tries to email itself, every 30 minutes, to addresses in your Internet address book.
- It tries to connect to an IRC server and join a specific IRC channel. If it is successful, the worm sends information to this IRC channel every 30 seconds to keep itself connected and to retrieve any commands. By using IRC, the author or distributor of the worm can access information on your system including:
- Computer name
- Product name
- Product identifier
- Product key
- Registered owner
- Registered organization
- System root path
- Version number
- ICQ identification numbers
- ICQ nicknames
- Your email address
- Dial-Up networking user name and passwords
In addition, being connected to IRC opens a security hole in which your computer can potentially be used to receive and execute files.
Recommendations
Symantec Security Response encourages all users and administrators to adhere to the following basic security "best practices":
- Use a firewall to block all incoming connections from the Internet to services that should not be publicly available. By default, you should deny all incoming connections and only allow services you explicitly want to offer to the outside world.
- Enforce a password policy. Complex passwords make it difficult to crack password files on compromised computers. This helps to prevent or limit damage when a computer is compromised.
- Ensure that programs and users of the computer use the lowest level of privileges necessary to complete a task. When prompted for a root or UAC password, ensure that the program asking for administration-level access is a legitimate application.
- Disable AutoPlay to prevent the automatic launching of executable files on network and removable drives, and disconnect the drives when not required. If write access is not required, enable read-only mode if the option is available.
- Turn off file sharing if not needed. If file sharing is required, use ACLs and password protection to limit access. Disable anonymous access to shared folders. Grant access only to user accounts with strong passwords to folders that must be shared.
- Turn off and remove unnecessary services. By default, many operating systems install auxiliary services that are not critical. These services are avenues of attack. If they are removed, threats have less avenues of attack.
- If a threat exploits one or more network services, disable, or block access to, those services until a patch is applied.
- Always keep your patch levels up-to-date, especially on computers that host public services and are accessible through the firewall, such as HTTP, FTP, mail, and DNS services.
- Configure your email server to block or remove email that contains file attachments that are commonly used to spread threats, such as .vbs, .bat, .exe, .pif and .scr files.
- Isolate compromised computers quickly to prevent threats from spreading further. Perform a forensic analysis and restore the computers using trusted media.
- Train employees not to open attachments unless they are expecting them. Also, do not execute software that is downloaded from the Internet unless it has been scanned for viruses. Simply visiting a compromised Web site can cause infection if certain browser vulnerabilities are not patched.
- If Bluetooth is not required for mobile devices, it should be turned off. If you require its use, ensure that the device's visibility is set to "Hidden" so that it cannot be scanned by other Bluetooth devices. If device pairing must be used, ensure that all devices are set to "Unauthorized", requiring authorization for each connection request. Do not accept applications that are unsigned or sent from unknown sources.
- For further information on the terms used in this document, please refer to the Security Response glossary.
