The Coordinated Malware Attack is comprised of worms that infiltrate computer systems, leaving routes open to successive worms that further compromise security and grant access to hackers.
In a week that has seen an increase of variants of the MyTob worm, which usually manifests as a blank email or a message from a fictitious system administrator, the possibility of an attack that is coordinated among hackers represents an evolution of security threats.
MyTob and its variants appear to have been authored by a hacker consortium known as Hellbot, security firms say, and the CMA exploits weaknesses the MyTob family has created.
Viruses are often created so that disk space on infected computers can be sold on black markets. A fast-propogating worm like MyTob can fetch a nickel per computer.
The expected CMA’s elements are named differently, depending on which security company is describing them. They are commonly referred to as Glieder-AK, the Fantibag Trojan and the Mitglieder Trojan.
As always, users worldwide are encouraged to keep anti-virus subscriptions active and up-to-date.
