Proxy.O

Windows 2003/XP/2000/NT/ME/98/95

Proxy.O is a Trojan, which although seemingly inoffensive, can actually carry out attacks and intrusions.

It captures certain information entered or saved by the user, with the corresponding threat to privacy: .

It sends the gathered information to a remote user by any available means: email, FTP, etc.

• In the local network: it generates a large amount of network activity and consumes bandwidth.

It reduces the security level of the computer: it notifies the attacker that the computer has been compromised and is ready to be used maliciously; it opens one or more ports to allow remote access to the computer and takes action that compromises user confidentiality.

It uses several methods in order to avoid detection by antivirus companies:

• It terminates its own execution if it detects that it is being executed in a virtual machine environment, such as VMWare or VirtualPC.

Proxy.O does not spread automatically using its own means. It needs an attacking user's intervention in order to reach the affected computer. The means of transmission used include, among others, floppy disks, CD-ROMs, email messages with attached files, Internet downloads, FTP, IRC channels, peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing networks, etc.