First Russian-language virus appeared in the Internet

Russian anti-virus Kaspersky Laboratory found that new virus-bearing software Agent. Is sent to Internet users on a mass scale.
The software is masked under files of BMP graphic format, the Russian Courier wrote. The new virus was created specially for the purpose of attacking Russian version of Windows 2000 – the virus-bearing code will not work in the other systems. This fact demonstrates that some residents of  Russia or the former  USSR republics could develop "Agent" virus.

If the Internet user had imprudence to download the attached BMP-file, the file contacts the host server located in Libya, and downloads  the spy software called Throd, on the computer. Experts believe that the spy software is aimed only at stealing the e-mail addresses.  Nevertheless, like other viruses, the “spy” has a number of other destructive functions.

The experts are concerned that Agent uses the breach in the browser of Internet Explorer of versions 5.0 and 5.5 (the breach was detected on February 16 after some Windows software codes leaking. Meanwhile, Microsoft still did not update the software to close the breach.

The experts say they figured out the company which could arrange the virus – one of the companies involved in sending spam on a large scale.