Christmas IM Worm a Nasty Present

IMLogic warned Tuesday that a new instant messaging worm that attempts to get users to visit an apparently harmless Santa Claus site was making the rounds of the AOL, MSN and Yahoo networks. When users visit the site, a rootkit is delivered to their computer, often named gift.com. Upon execution of the file, it attempts to shut down antivirus software and collect personal information.

Infected users will also spread the worm to people on their buddy list, as it will automatically send the URL to all contacts. IMLogic recommends that users check to make sure their antivirus software is up to date, all current security patches have been applied, and IM clients that are not up to date have been blocked from accessing the network.