Spammed Trojan hides in Word document

Kukudro-A is being propagated via an infected Microsoft Word document in spammed emails

IT security watchers have warned of a Trojan spammed out in large quantities to email users around the world.

Kukudro-A is being propagated via an infected Microsoft Word document in spammed emails, which promise information about Apple, HP and Sony laptop computers for sale.

When opened the Word document attempts to install another Trojan horse, called Kuku-A, onto the user's hard drive, which can lead to hackers gaining access to innocent users' PCs.

The spam comes with a variety of subject lines including 'worth to see', 'prices', and 'Hello'. It is currently the number one reported malware, according to Sophos' global network of monitoring stations.

Attached to the email is a zip file (variously called 'prices.zip', 'apple_prices.zip' or 'sony_prices.zip') containing a malicious Word document entitled 'my_Notebook.doc'.
It is believed that the author behind the malware is also responsible for the Sality worms which log keystrokes to steal information from computer users.

"People may be curious as to why they have been sent the email and open the attached file, but doing so would be a big mistake," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.

"This malware is being aggressively spammed out in an attempt to break into innocent users' Windows computers.

"The Trojan will try and download further code from the internet which could allow hackers to gain access to the computer in order to spy, steal and cause havoc."