Situation:
You heard that there are new virus threats that go by the following names:

W32.Opaserv.worm
W32.Bugbear@mm

You wonder if there is any danger of these worms/viruses infecting your Macintosh.

Solution:
These are Windows-specific worms/viruses and cannot infect or harm a Macintosh.

Since a worm/virus can be email based, a Macintosh user could pass the worm/virus on through an infected email, by forwarding it to a Windows user. If you receive an email infected with, or carrying a worm/virus, then delete the email and do not forward or reply to it. A good rule of thumb is to delete any email that has an attachment ending in .exe. There are other types of attachments that can be viruses or worms, but any time you see an attachment ending in .exe, it is an executable file for use on a Windows computer. You have no use for such a file on your Macintosh computer.

For more specific information about these viruses/worms, see below.

W32.Opaserv.worm
W32.Opaserv.Worm is a network-aware worm which attempts to replicate across open network shares. It will copy itself to the file "scrsvr.exe" on the remote machine. This worm also attempts to download updates from www.opasoft.com, although the site may have already been shut down.

For additional information about the W32.Opaserv.worm, point your Web browser to the Symantec Security Response W32.Opaserv.worm document.

W32.Bugbear@mm
W32.Bugbear@mm is a mass-mailing worm. It can also spread through network shares. It has Backdoor capabilities. The worm will also attempt to terminate the processes of various antivirus and firewall programs.

For additional information about W32.Bugbear@mm, point your Web browser to the Symantec Security Response W32.Bugbear@mm document.

W32.Bugbear.B@mm
W32.Bugbear.B@mm is a variant of W32.Bugbear@mm. It is also a mass-mailing worm that also spreads through network shares. It has keystroke-logging and Backdoor capabilities. The worm also attempts to terminate the processes of various antivirus and firewall programs.

For additional information about W32.Bugbear.B@mm, point your Web browser to the Symantec Security Response W32.Bugbear.B@mm document.

References:
For more general information about mass-mailing viruses or worms, read the document Are Macintoshes affected by mass-mailing viruses or worms?

Document ID: 2002100107263811
Last Modified: 09/02/2003
Date Created: 10/01/2002
Operating System(s): Mac - OS 8.1, Mac - OS 9, Mac OS X
Product(s): Norton AntiVirus 7.0 - Mac, Norton AntiVirus 8.0 - Mac