New Worm Threat For P2P File Sharers

Downloading files from a P2P file sharing network is risky at the best of times, but now there is a new threat that specifically targets music file sharers. Kaspersky Lab, a computer security company, has discovered a Trojan that changes your music files in order to download malware and infect your computer. Once an infected digital music file is played, Internet Explorer is automatically launched and contacts websites that contain malware; this malicious code often masquerades as a codec which tricks the user into downloading it.

The new worm, Worm.Win32.GetCodec.a, works by searching your hard drive for MP3 and MP2 files which it then transcodes into WMA files. Once in this format, it can then wrap the WMA file in an Advanced Systems Format (ASF) container; this format can hold various content, including website links that are used to download malware. The Trojan that is downloaded with this new worm is a proxy program that hackers can use to evade detection; your computer's IP address is used for the hackers illegal activities.

The lesson to be learned from this latest revelation is that P2P file sharing has its dangers and if your Internet browser suddenly appears asking you to download a file, then you probably shouldn't!