» Subscribe to Newsletter
» Switch to BizTech2.com
Home » News » Printers Printing and Imaging » Owl Virus Targets Network Printers
Owl Virus Targets Network Printers
By: Sharon Khare   |   May 15, 2006
Security company Sophos, has discovered a worm that attempts to send a photograph of an owl to attached network printers.

The W32/Hoots-A worm is written in Visual Basic and spreads via network shares. Once it has infected a computer it attempts to send a graphical image of an owl with the legend "O RLY?" to a number of predefined print queues.

"This isn't the work of a professional virus writer. Most malware authors these days encrypt their executables with packers in an attempt to make them harder to detect, this one does not. It is also written in Visual Basic, which is unusual for a virus today. But the smoking gun is that the worm has hardcoded within it the specific network paths to almost 40 different printers," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "It appears this malware was written for a specific organization, by someone who had inside knowledge of their IT infrastructure."

The phrase "O RLY?" is Internet slang for "Oh really?", and is often accompanied by a picture of a snowy white owl. "Why the author should want to print out pictures of an owl is, of course, anybody's guess," continued Cluley.

Sophos has only received reports of the malware from one customer, and is working with the organization to provide more information which may help identify the creator of the worm.

owlvirus_t.jpg
 
Ads by Google 
Post a Comment on “Owl Virus Targets Network Printers”
Comment : 
Name : 
City : 
Email : 
This is the funniest worm i´ve ever seen :P The first haxor with humor :P
Master moose @ May 20, 2008
Ads by Google 
Ads by Google
Products
Camcorders  |   Controllers  |   CPUs  |   Desktop PCs  |   Digital Cameras  |   Digital Video Recorders  |   DVD Players  |   Games  |   Gaming Consoles  |   General  |   GPS Systems  |   Handhelds / PDAs  |   Hard Drives  |   Headphones & Headsets  |   HiFi Audio Systems  |   Home Theater Systems  |   Input Devices  |   Internet  |   Laptops  |   lenovo  |   Low Level Components  |   Mac Systems  |   Mobile Phone Accessories  |   Mobile Phones  |   Monitors  |   Motherboards  |   MP3 / Audio Players  |   Multi-Function Devices  |   Networking  |   Optical Drives  |   PC Accessories  |   PC Add-on Cards  |   PC Cabinets  |   PC Games  |   Printers  |   Projectors  |   RAM Modules  |   Scanners  |   Software  |   Speakers  |   Telecom  |   TVs  |   Video Players  |  
Careers | About Us | Ad Inventory | Site Profile | Feedback | Copyright © 2007, Tech2.com India - A Network 18 India Venture