Experts are warning of an increased security risk from peer-to-peer
software, following the outbreak of a virus affecting the Gnutella
network.
Will Garside
The Gnuman virus, seen last week, renames a copy of itself to
match a P2P network user's search query term, tricking the user
into downloading an executable file which then infects another
machine.
The Gnuman virus did not carry a damaging payload but shows how
one could be introduced.
Eric Chien, head of the Symantec Anti Virus Centre said "This is
not the first virus to affect users of peer-to-peer technology, but
as the P2P phenomena grows we're seeing a new vector of infection
which is difficult to screen against".
Chien said users of P2P systems such as Napster and Gnutella
turned their PCs into an unsecured file server which potentially
opened up the corporate network to attack from viruses or
hackers.
Scott Blake, of security consultancy Bindview, said "The
majority of viruses come thorough emails and any company worth its
salt will screen email heavily. This type of attack, though
smaller, is potentially more damaging, as traditional virus
scanners are not equipped to detect these threats. For a hacker,
this may prove to be a useful way of circumventing the usual
security blocks placed around a network without detection".
P2P networks are growing quickly with music file-swapping site
Napster claiming to have over 50 million users.
Chien's worst case scenario is an infected Napster or Gnutella
user's PC on a corporate network giving undetectable access to a
skilled hacker. He advises, "When using these programs there is a
simple rule. Don't double click without checking the file type. If
the file is an MP3 file than this will launch a compatible music
player. If however, this is a new, virus-ridden executable, you
will be infected and if the virus is subtle, you will probably not
be aware of it."
Paul Myers, chief executive and founder of music file-swapping
system Wippit, which has just launched, said, "This is worrying for
users of Gnutella but not all peer-to-peer systems are the same. In
our service, all the types of material transferred are scanned for
both viruses and copyright clearance before they reach any of our
subscribers. If there is a problem, we can also stop it from
spreading."
Will
Garside