Bernama

SINGAPORE, Aug 29 (Bernama) — Sophos, a world leader in information technology security, has warned Internet users about the latest disguise being used by malicious software (malware) authors in their attempt to infect people’s personal computers (PCs) — an e-mail claiming to point to a YouTube video.

“Clicking on a link inside the e-mail will send surfers to a web page containing a malicious script and a Trojan horse designed to compromise the user’s PC and turn it into a zombie,” the company said in a statement.

The malware that hackers were using to try and infect innocent computer users was from the same families of malware used in the waves of Storm Trojan that wreaked havoc on the Internet earlier this year, it said.

“The gang behind these attacks are among the most professional we’ve ever seen — spewing out new variants of their code with multiple disguises in their attempt to infect as many PCs as possible,” said Sophos senior technology consultant, Graham Cluley.

“Clicking on the links in the e-mail won’t take you to YouTube’s real website but the IP address of a compromised PC. If infected, victims’ computers can be used by hackers to steal personal information, spam out malware and junk e-mail, or launch distributed denial of service attacks against innocent parties”.

Sophos said that its products pro-actively detect the malware as “Troj/JSXor-Gen” and “Mal/Dorf-E”, without requiring an update. Users of other vendors’ products are recommended to update their protection and ensure that they are defended against the threats.

Last month, Sophos published the findings of a research which revealed a rise in web-based malware in the first half of 2007.

“With computer users becoming increasingly aware of how to protect against e-mail-aware viruses and malware, hackers have turned to the web as their preferred vector of attack,” the company said.

The Taman Tun Dr. Ismail (TTDI) interchange at the Damansara-Puchong Expressway (LDP) will be upgraded under a RM84m project which is to begin by the end of the year and to be completed in about 3 years. The upgrade involves the construction of a north-bound flyover to carry the main traffic from SS2 to Kepong as well as some road widening works.

The north-bound stretch of LDP from SS2 to Kepong is notoriously congested, especially during the evening rush hour as main traffic from SS2 will need to switch lanes from right to left after the Damansara Utama underpass tunnel. Traffic from Sprint Highway Damansara Link turning left into LDP to enter TTDI will switch lanes from left to right to access the traffic lights junction at the TTDI interchange. The switching of lanes from both sides created a bottleneck at that stretch of the expressway.

Traffic bottleneck also occurs right after the junction at the interchange. Main traffic from the left lanes to Kepong will switch to the right lanes while traffic from TTDI to Bandar Utama will switch lanes from right to left before turning into Bandar Utama. Such a situation results in traffic congestion that sometimes stretches all the way to SS2. It is hoped that upon completion of the upgrade, smoother traffic can be expected along this stretch.