Yahoo: ‘Yamanner’ JavaScript Worm Contained

Yahoo on Tuesday announced that it has contained the “Yamanner” worm, which targeted users of its popular e-mail service, the Associated Press reports via the New York Post.

Many worms need a person to open a file attachment before they can infect PCs; however, Yamanner infected victims’ computers as soon as its carrier e-mail was opened. It then searched users’ e-mail contact lists in attempt to spread itself, according to the AP.

Yahoo said “a very small fraction” of its more than 200 million-person customer base was affected by the worm on Monday, the day it was originally identified by Symantec, the AP reports.

“We have taken steps to resolve the issue and protect our users from further attacks of this worm,” said Kelley Podboy, a Yahoo spokesperson, according to the AP. “The solution has been automatically distributed to all Yahoo Mail customers, and requires no additional action on the part of the user.”

Yahoo has advised its e-mail users to make sure all of their antivirus solutions are up to date, and to block all incoming correspondences from av3@yahoo.com, the address from which the worm appeared to be sent, the AP reports.

For more on the worm, read Symantec Identifies New JavaScript Worm.

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-Compiled by Al Sacco