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Source: PC World |
A “vigilante” Trojan appears to be attempting to protect computer systems from the impact of viruses whenever users access peer-to-peer (P2P) networks.
Once it infiltrates a PC, the Trojan Erazer.A searches for default folders typically used by P2P programs to download MP3, AVI, MPEG, WMV, GIF, and Zip files, and it deletes all data with those file extensions.
Since this Trojan only deletes specific types of files in designated folders, cybersecurity experts believe that Erazer.A is attempting to protect the systems it has infected. The British security firm Sophos refers to this as a “vigilante” Trojan because such software is quite rare and, in any case, it provides some benefits to users.
However, Erazer.A also disrupts antivirus programs and steals information from the machine. “I don’t believe Erazer is being distributed with good intentions as it tries to disable security features. It would be very dangerous if people think there are viruses written to protect them because that would create a new misconception about security. Who knows what will happen with subsequent versions like Erazer B, C, D…?“, commented Graham Cluley, a consultant at Sophos.
T.N.
