Parent class: VirWare
Viruses and worms are malicious programs that self-replicate on computers or via computer networks without the user being aware; each subsequent copy of such malicious programs is also able to self-replicate. Malicious programs which spread via networks or infect remote machines when commanded to do so by the “owner” (e.g. Backdoors) or programs that create multiple copies that are unable to self-replicate are not part of the Viruses and Worms subclass. The main characteristic used to determine whether or not a program is classified as a separate behaviour within the Viruses and Worms subclass is how the program propagates (i.e. how the malicious program spreads copies of itself via local or network resources.) Most known worms are spread as files sent as email attachments, via a link to a web or FTP resource, via a link sent in an ICQ or IRC message, via P2P file sharing networks etc. Some worms spread as network packets; these directly penetrate the computer memory, and the worm code is then activated. Worms use the following techniques to penetrate remote computers and launch copies of themselves: social engineering (for example, an email message suggesting the user opens an attached file), exploiting network configuration errors (such as copying to a fully accessible disk), and exploiting loopholes in operating system and application security. Viruses can be divided in accordance with the method used to infect a computer:- file viruses
- boot sector viruses
- macro viruses
- script viruses
Class: Virus
Viruses replicate on the resources of the local machine. Unlike worms, viruses do not use network services to propagate or penetrate other computers. A copy of a virus will reach remote computers only if the infected object is, for some reason unrelated to the virus function, activated on another computer. For example: when infecting accessible disks, a virus penetrates a file located on a network resource a virus copies itself to a removable storage device or infects a file on a removable device a user sends an email with an infected attachment.Read more
Platform: Win32
Win32 is an API on Windows NT-based operating systems (Windows XP, Windows 7, etc.) that supports execution of 32-bit applications. One of the most widespread programming platforms in the world.Description
Technical Details
Initx is a harmless per-process resident Win32 virus. It infects Windows Portable executable (PE) files that have the ".EXE" filename extension. The virus consists of two parts: its startup routine stored in infected files, and the dynamic link library (DLL) file called "initx.dat".
Replication
The virus searches for suitable files with the ".EXE" extension in the
Windows and Windows System directories, and all computer's network shares
and tries to infect them. If the computer's name begins with "CT" in any
case, the virus replicates only in the shared directories.
While infecting a file, the virus creates its copy named "initx.dat" in the host's directory. Then it appends its 28 byte long startup routine to the host's code section, so that the "initx.dat" file is loaded as a library when an infected file is executed. The startup routine is inserted in the unused space of the code section, so the file's size remains unchanged.
The infection process looks like this:
Infected directory Victim directory
------------------ ----------------
file1 file4
file2 file5
... ...
infected file.exe host.exe <--- is infected by
writing the startup
routine (28 bytes)
to the code section
initx.dat --> initx.dat <--- copy of the main
part of the virus
Payload
The virus tries to find and to connect to the network host called "ct". If
the connection is successfull, it transmits the infected computer's name
to that host. It also creates a hidden network share with the "ADMIN$" name
that points to the Windows directory.
Read more
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