[ISN] Windows XP users Phelled by new Trojan

[InfoSec News]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/12/30/ms_phel_vuln/

By Ashlee Vance in Chicago
30th December 2004 

A new Trojan horse - named Phel - that punishes users of Microsoft
Windows XP operating system is in the wild.

Security software firm Symantec has issued a bulletin warning Windows
XP users to be on the look out for the program, which is distributed
as an .html file. The malicious code can attack systems running XP
Service Pack 2. The vuln was first found in October, and Microsoft is
busy trying to catch up to it.

"Microsoft is taking this vulnerability very seriously, and an update
to correct the vulnerability is currently in development," the company
told ComputerWorld. "We will release the security update when the
development and testing process is complete, and the update is found
to effectively correct the vulnerability."

Symantec warns that users will see two Internet Explorer windows pop
up when an .html file with Trojan.Phel.A is opened. If the code does
its worst, the Trojan will automatically be executed every time a
Windows user turns on his machine.

More information from Symantec is available here [1].

[1] http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/trojan.phel.a.html#threatassessment