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We've had reports of a new worm in the wild and that generates increased RDP traffic for our users on port 3389. Although the overall numbers of computers reporting detections are low in comparison to more established malware families, the traffic it generates is noticeable. The worm is detected as Worm:Win32/Morto.A and you can see a detailed description of it at Worm:Win32/Morto.A.
Morto attempts to compromise Remote Desktop connections in order to penetrate remote systems, by exploiting weak administrator passwords. Once a new system is compromised, it connects to a remote server in order to download additional information and update its components. It also terminates processes for locally running security applications in order to ensure its activity continues uninterrupted. Affected users should note that a reboot may be required in order to complete the cleaning process. This particular worm highlights the importance of setting strong system passwords. Using strong passwords can go a long way towards protecting your environment -- and the ability of attackers to exploit weak passwords shouldn't be underestimated. For example, Morto tries the following passwords: *1234 0 111 123 369 1111 12345 111111 123123 123321 123456 168168 520520 654321 666666 888888 1234567 12345678 123456789 1234567890 %u% %u%12 1234qwer 1q2w3e 1qaz2wsx aaa abc123 abcd1234 admin admin123 letmein pass password server test user When creating strong passwords, remember that the key to a strong password is length and complexity. Here's a few tips to keep in mind:
For more advice on creating (and remembering) strong passwords, visit our Safety and Security Center. For your information here are some examples of files that are being detected as Win32/Morto:0x48AE936692FFBD14782D5C97DD067402FBB523560x6929EAD324EFA7A667BAE88A041F546DBBECBF260x188BA0E3A03BFFFF4B9C96721AC70EF68D19A86E Hil GradascevicMMPC Melbourne