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Published Aug 06, 2004 | Updated Sep 15, 2017

Worm:Win32/Netsky.I@mm

Detected by Microsoft Defender Antivirus

Aliases: W32/Netsky.i@MM (McAfee) W32.Netsky.I@mm (Symantec) WORM_NETSKY.I (Trend Micro) W32/Netsky-i (Sophos)

Summary

Win32/Netsky.I@mm is a mass-mailing worm that targets computers running certain versions of Microsoft Windows. The worm sends itself to e-mail addresses that it finds on the infected computer. The worm is activated when a user opens an e-mail attachment that contains the worm. There may be no readily apparent indications that a computer is infected with this worm.
To manually recover from infection by Win32/Netsky.I@mm, perform the following steps:
  1. Disconnect from the Internet.
  2. Restart the computer in safe mode.
  3. End the worm process.
  4. Delete the worm files from the computer.
  5. Delete the worm registry entry.
  6. Restart your computer. 
  7. Take steps to prevent re-infection.

Disconnect from the Internet

To help ensure that your computer is not actively infecting other computers, disconnect it from the Internet before proceeding. Print this Web page or save a copy on your computer; then unplug your network cable and disable your wireless connection. You can reconnect to the Internet after completing these steps.

Restart the computer in safe mode

To start your computer in safe mode
  1. Remove all floppy disks and CDs from your computer, and then restart your computer.
  2. When prompted, press F8. If Windows starts without displaying the Please select the operating system to start menu, restart your computer. Press F8 after the firmware POST process completes, but before Windows displays graphical output.
  3. From the Windows Advanced Options menu, select a safe mode option.

End the worm process

Ending the worm process will help stop your computer from infecting other computers as well as resolve the crashing, rebooting, and performance degradation issues caused by the worm.
To end the worm process
  1. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL once and click Task Manager.
  2. Click Processes and click Image Name to sort the running processes by name.
  3. Select the process fooding.exe, and click End Process.

Delete the worm files from the computer

To delete the worm files from the computer
  1. Click Start, and then click Run.
  2. In the Open field, type %Windir%
  3. Press Enter.
  4. Click the Name column to sort files by name.
  5. Find the file fooding.exe and delete it.
If deleting fooding.exe fails, use the following steps to verify that fooding.exe is not running:
  1. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL once and click Task Manager.
  2. Click the Processes tab.
  3. Confirm that fooding.exe is not in the list.

Delete the worm registry entry

Win32/Netsky.I@mm creates an entry in the Windows registry that attempts to run the worm every time your computer restarts. This entry should be deleted.
To delete the worm registry entry
  1. Click Start, and then click Run.
  2. In the Open field, type regedit
  3. Press Enter.
  4. In the left pane, navigate to the registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
  5. In the right pane, right-click the value:
    Tiny AV = %Windir%\fooding.exe -antivirus service.
  6. Click Delete and click Yes to delete the value.
  7. Close the Registry Editor.

Restart your computer

To restart your computer
  1. On the Start menu, click Shut Down.
  2. Select Restart from the drop-down list and click OK.

Take steps to prevent re-infection

Do not reconnect your computer to the Internet until the computer is protected from re-infection. See the "Preventing Infection" section for more information.
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