Worm:W32/Voter

Classification

Category :

Malware

Type :

Worm

Aliases :

Worm:W32/Voter.A, Worm:W32/Voter.B, Worm:W32/Voter.C, Worm:W32/Voter.D, Worm:W32/Voter.E, W32/Voterai.worm, W32/Voterai.worm.b, TROJ_VOTERAI.A, Trojan.NSIS.Voter.a

Summary

Worm:W32/Voter is a small family of worms distributed in a small executable PE file, most notable for using a GIF image of an African political figure as a decoy to hide its infection activities.

Removal

Based on the settings of your F-Secure security product, it will either move the file to the quarantine where it cannot spread or cause harm, or remove it.

A False Positive is when a file is incorrectly detected as harmful, usually because its code or behavior resembles known harmful programs. A False Positive will usually be fixed in a subsequent database update without any action needed on your part. If you wish, you may also:

  • Check for the latest database updates

    First check if your F-Secure security program is using the latest updates, then try scanning the file again.

  • Submit a sample

    After checking, if you still believe the file is incorrectly detected, you can submit a sample of it for re-analysis.

    Note: If the file was moved to quarantine, you need to collect the file from quarantine before you can submit it.

  • Exclude a file from further scanning

    If you are certain that the file is safe and want to continue using it, you can exclude it from further scanning by the F-Secure security product.

    Note: You need administrative rights to change the settings.

Technical Details

The Voter family of worms was first discovered in 2007; subsequently, variants with (very few differing characteristics) have occassionally appeared in the following years.

Distribution

Voter worm variants are distributed via small, executable PE files and must be manually executed by the user to infect the system. The name of the file may vary, but samples observed have been named 'Raila Odinga.exe'.

Infection

On arriving on a new system, the worm will typically drop a GIF file containing an image of an African political figure to the desktop, which is used as a decoy to obscure the worm's infection actions.

While the image is being displayed, the executable file copies itself to the windows directory.