The latest harmful code

Kaspersky Labs as a result of many reports surrounding the detection of and mass infection by the Visual Basic Script worm "Homepage" around the world, reports that within the past few hours that its technical support department has received hundreds of reports regarding the worm’s penetration of users’ computers. "'Homepage' is simply the latest harmful code using a primitive method of introducing itself, but in no way poses a threat to those strictly adhering to the rules of computer hygiene. Those who have fallen victim are those who, despite the numerous warnings do date, continue to open files with suspicious contents," commented Denis Zenkin, Head of Corporate Communications for Kaspersky Labs. "Homepage" is written in Visual Basic Script (VBS) and is able to operate on the Windows Scripting Host (in Windows 98 Windows 2000, installed by default); otherwise, the file-carrying worm simply cannot be launched. The main feature distinguishing "Homepage" is that its code is encrypted so as to avoid detection by the heuristic analyzer.