Worm:Win32/Autorun.AHQ

Worm:Win32/Autorun.AHQ is a worm - a self-propagating program that can spread itself from one computer to another. Worms may spread themselves via a variety of different channels in order to compromise new computers. Variants of Worm:Win32/Autorun usually spread using methods that include, but may not be limited to, copying themselves to removable or network drives, and placing an autorun.inf file in the root directory of each affected drive in an attempt to ensure that the worm is run when the removable drive is attached, or the network drive is visited from a remote system supporting the Autorun feature.

When it runs, Worm:Win32/Autorun.AHQ copies itself to c:\documents and settings\administrator\application data\musallat.exe.

The malware creates the following files on your computer:

Worm:Win32/Autorun.AHQ may copy itself to network and/or removable drives. It may also place an autorun.inf file in the root directory of the targeted drive. Such autorun.inf files contain execution instructions for the operating system, so that when the network and/or removable drive is accessed from another computer supporting the Autorun feature, the malware is launched automatically. This is particularly common malware behavior, generally utilized in order to spread malware from computer to computer. It should also be noted that autorun.inf files on their own are not necessarily a sign of infection, as they are used by legitimate programs and installation CDs.

Note: this worm was not observed to write an executable or create an autorun.inf file on a targeted drive in our automated testing environment. This may be because it does not begin spreading immediately, or because it may need to be commanded to spread from a remote source.

Worm:Win32/Autorun.AHQ modifies the Windows Hosts file. The local Hosts file overrides the DNS resolution of a website URL to a particular IP address. Malicious software may make modifications to the Hosts file in order to redirect specified URLs to different IP addresses. Malware often modifies an affected computer's Hosts file in order to stop users from accessing websites associated with particular security-related applications (such as antivirus for example).

Modifies system security settings

This malware description was produced and published using our automated analysis system's examination of file SHA1 58438b658718fb7ccbe83a133f50054f9b3cb343.