Howdy everyone,

Sasser spreading further with new variation Sasser.D

Details below:

- The new Sasser.D worm aggravates the epidemic
that is sweeping across the Internet -
Virus Alerts, by Panda Software (http://www.pandasoftware.com)

Madrid, May 03 2004 - PandaLabs has detected the appearance of a new variant
of the Sasser worm (Sasser.D) -very similar to its predecessors- which,
according to the data gathered by the multinational's International Alerts
Network, has started to cause incidents.

In order to combat the effects of the epidemic triggered by the variants of
the Sasser worm, Panda Software has made two new PQRemove utilities
available to all users. These applications can clean infected computers and
restore the configuration computers had prior to the worm's attack.

The first PQRemove is specific for networks and removes Sasser and all of
its variants from any network that could have been affected. You can
download at: http://www.pandasoftware.com/support/

The second PQRemove application cleans every computer that could have been
attacked by Sasser.D. You can download at:
http://www.pandasoftware.com/download/utilities/

Far from receding, the global epidemic unleashed by Sasser and its variants
is expanding progressively. As expected, the number of companies whose
network has been affected by these dangerous worms is increasing. According
to The Daily Telegraph, Sydney's railway radio communication network has
been seriously affected by a computer virus. Besides, some 300 million
computers worldwide are vulnerable to attack by the Sasser worm, which gives
an idea of the potential scale of the threat.

There can be no doubt about the intentions of the creators of these worms:
to put as many viruses as possible in circulation in order to multiply the
probability of infection. Luis Corrons, head of PandaLabs warns of the
threat: "New variants of Sasser will continue to appear in the next few
hours, and it will be necessary to be protected. To ensure this, users
should install the Microsoft patch that corrects the vulnerability exploited
by Sasser".

Panda Software informs users that the new worms can be detected and
disinfected with an up-to-date antivirus, but it is important to install the
Microsoft patch to ensure that Sasser.A doesn't re-infect computers. The
vulnerability exploited by this worm was reported by Microsoft recently in
bulletin MS04-011

(http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS04-011.mspx),

along with the patch. Panda Software has made the updates necessary to its
products available to clients.

Panda Software's online support center
(http://www.pandasoftware.com/support/) also offers help to users.

Panda Software clients can update their antivirus through the applications
installed on their computers.

In addition, the users can scan their computers on line for free with the
ActiveScan solution, available in the company web page
http://www.pandasoftware.com.

More information about these and other IT threats is available from
http://www.pandasoftware.com/virus_info/encyclopedia/


Be safe...