The two virus threats are completely unrelated except that they were both discovered by Finnish computer security firm F-Secure Corporation.
The popular social networking site MySpace.com is having its user pages infected with a link to a computer virus. The pages are being modified by versions of the Zlob Trojan, which is installing code that overlays its own window on top of the page, according to F-Secure"s chief researcher Mikko Hypponen. Zlob tries to download and run malware and attempts to change Internet Explorer web browser settings, default search and home pages. When a MySpace user clicks on the overlaid window, the virus tries to modify that page with code that includes the Zlob download link.
Hypponen also warned of initial reports regarding attempts to spread another known virus through Skype"s text-based instant messaging feature. Some have alerted F-Secure that they had received links to files infected with a worm called Warezov. Warezov harvests e-mail addresses it finds on infected computers and sends itself as an attachment to those recipients. It also tries to download newer versions of itself from the internet. According to Hypponen, "some older Warezov variants have used other instant messaging [clients] in a similar fashion, but not Skype."