If you're like most computer users, you probably have nearly 900 MP3s on your computer. If you're like most Download Squad readers you probably have closer to 9,000. Either way, they could all be gone in the blink of an eye.A new worm called W32.Deletemusic is moving from computer to computer in search of tasty MP3 files to eat (ie: delete). That's pretty much all this worm does. It won't steal your credit card information or other personal data. It won't send spam to everyone on your contact list. But it could remove hundreds or even thousands of files that you've paid to download or rip from your own CD collection.
It's not clear whether the worm was written by some amateur hacker looking to see what he could accomplish or someone hoping to spread an anti-piracy message, you know by deleting legitimate music files. Because that'll show you.
Anyway, the worm can Windows machines running Windows 95 through Vista. The worm can be removed, but by the time you discover your computer's been infected it may be too late. So you might want to disable autorun on your PC until you've updated your virus definitions.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-03-2007 @ 10:21PM
Donald said...
WHAT? 9000? Surely you underestimate your readership. I get the feeling the average would be somewhere in the 5 digits.
Disclaimer: My collection is more like 2000.
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8-03-2007 @ 10:21PM
Man said...
I have about 90 songs on my PC.
And still I barely listen to them.
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8-03-2007 @ 10:43PM
Mimzy said...
Wow...thanks for the warning. However, one thing I'm still wondering about - exactly how does this end up on people's computers?
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8-04-2007 @ 9:14AM
Tom said...
Right? None of the articles says how the worm is spread.
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8-04-2007 @ 4:16PM
Abscissa said...
Pfft...who would want autorun enabled in the first place? That shit is ANNOYING.
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8-04-2007 @ 4:16PM
Abscissa said...
I can't wait till the feds trace this back to the RIAA.
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8-04-2007 @ 4:16PM
Abscissa said...
I can't wait till the feds trace this back to either Sony, the RIAA, or Lars Ulrich.
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8-04-2007 @ 4:17PM
steve said...
damn you downloadsquad.....your beating me
i only have in the 7000s
well if my music gets deleted ill be devastated
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8-05-2007 @ 11:33AM
Josh said...
Tom, the ars technica article states "the worm makes its way from computer to computer by spreading itself onto all attached drives of a given PC, including flash drives and removable media. If that media is then removed and inserted into another computer, it continues its music-eating rampage on the new host."
In other words, don't let other people plug their stuff into or map a drive to or from your computer.
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8-05-2007 @ 11:34AM
Josh said...
Also, I noticed that it's not exactly a major threat. According to Symantec, it's infected less than 50 machines in 2 or less sites.
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8-10-2007 @ 11:57AM
AverageFury said...
22.265 files, 1.894 folders
124.124.500.631 bytes
mwahahahaha
Reply
8-10-2007 @ 11:57AM
AverageFury said...
22.265 files, 1.894 folders
124.124.500.631 bytes
mwahahahaha
Reply