Users need not fear latest script viruses.

Sophos Anti-Virus, has reiterated the need for companies to install the patch from Microsoft Which protects against script viruses such as Kakworm and Bubbleboy. The move was prompted by a new hackers' toolkit 'GodMessage', which utilises the same vulnerabilities as the Kakworm virus to install backdoor trojans on infected computers.

The kit, available for download from underground websites, enables relatively unskilled hackers, script kiddies and virus writers to easily create viruses loaded with backdoor trojans. The kit uses a vulnerability in Microsoft's implementation of ActiveX which allows a virus to hide in the text body of an email. This type of virus has become extremely widespread, largely due to the fact that Outlook and Outlook Express users activate it simply by reading an infected email. A patch for this vulnerability has been available from Microsoft for over a year. However, the script virus, Kakworm, has still been the most prevalent virus so far this year, beating even the LoveBug. 'There really shouldn't be any danger from this sort of script virus," say Sophos "Installing this patch takes seconds and will provide permanent protection from all viruses that use this kind of attack. However, we continue to see more cases of Kakworm than any other virus. It seems that the, message still needs to be hammered home."

To protect against viruses written using GodMessage users should disable Windows Scripting Host (see http://www.sophos.com/support/faqs/wsh.html) and install the patch from Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms99-032.asp).