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Source: PC World |
A “homegrown” Trojan seems to be aiming to protect computer systems from virus threats whenever users access peer-to-peer (P2P) sharing networks.
Once it infiltrates a PC, the Trojan Erazer.A searches for default directories typically used by P2P programs to download files such as MP3, AVI, MPEG, WMV, GIF, and Zip, and then proceeds to delete all files with those extensions.
Because this Trojan only deletes specific types of files in designated folders, cybersecurity experts believe that Erazer.A is trying to protect the systems it has infected. The UK-based security firm Sophos refers to it as a “homegrown” Trojan because such software is quite rare and, in some way, it does offer certain benefits to users.
However, Erazer.A also disrupts antivirus programs and steals information from the infected machines. “I don’t think Erazer was distributed with good intentions as it tries to disable security features. It would be very dangerous if people believed there are viruses created to protect them, as this would lead to a new misconception about security. Who knows what will happen with future versions like Erazer B, C, D…” commented Graham Cluley, a consultant at Sophos.
T.N.
