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- Discovered:
- October 30, 2002
- Updated:
- February 13, 2007 11:48:06 AM
- Also Known As:
- W32/Sponge@MM [McAfee], WORM_SPONGE.A [Trend]
- Type:
- Worm
- Systems Affected:
- Windows 2000, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows XP
W32.Sponge@mm is a mass-mailing worm that uses Microsoft Outlook to send itself to all contacts in the Outlook Address Book. The email has the following characteristics,
Subject: SpongeBob Wallpaper
Attachment: Spongy.exe
It overwrites .scr and .pif files in all folders except the root folder. It also appends code to the end of .htm files in all folders except the root folder.
The worm contains a macro component that is used to infect Microsoft Word documents and the global template Normal.dot. This is detected as W97M.Sponge.
It is written in the Microsoft Visual Basic programming language and compressed using UPX.
Antivirus Protection Dates
- Initial Rapid Release version October 30, 2002
- Latest Rapid Release version September 28, 2010 revision 054
- Initial Daily Certified version October 30, 2002
- Latest Daily Certified version September 28, 2010 revision 036
- Initial Weekly Certified release date October 30, 2002
Click here for a more detailed description of Rapid Release and Daily Certified virus definitions.
Threat Assessment
Wild
- Wild Level: Low
- Number of Infections: 0 - 49
- Number of Sites: 0 - 2
- Geographical Distribution: Low
- Threat Containment: Easy
- Removal: Moderate
Damage
- Damage Level: Low
Distribution
- Distribution Level: High
Writeup By: Yana Liu
