Worm:W32/Autorun

Summary

A program that secretly and maliciously integrates itself into program or data files. It spreads by integrating itself into more files each time the host program is run.

Disinfection & Removal

Allow F-Secure Anti-Virus to disinfect the relevant files.

For more general information on disinfection, please see Removal Instructions.

Technical Details

Variants in the Worm:W32/AutoRun family are worms that spread by copying themselves into the root directories of hard drives and other writable media such as USB memory sticks.

These worms create an autorun.inf file in the root directories of drives they want to infect.

Propagation

The autorun.inf includes the name and path of the actual worm executable.

When an infected media device (such as a CD, DVD or USB drive) is inserted into the computer, the autorun.inf and consequently the actual malicious program is automatically executed.

In addition to drives on the local computer, an Autorun worm can also spread to remote computers by infecting shared network drives.

Payload

Members of the AutoRun family also often contain other functionality in addition to just spreading.

This infection method is often used to propagate malicious payloads, such as a backdoor, password stealer, or some other kind of trojan.

Note

The following Generic Detections:

• Worm:inf/Autorun.gen!A
• Worm:Inf/Hamweg.gen!A

identify the autorun.inf files created by Autorun worms (and other families that use the same technique to propagate).