HckPk malware does a Mr Potato Head

Sophos has found that the HckPk family, a collection of encryption and packer tools, has had by far the greatest impact on 'puter users for February - making up over half of the malware doing the rounds. HckPk is a handy tool - if you're an evil bugger - that has successfully hidden big worms such as Dorf, January's biggest hitter.

Not only does HckPk hide worms, the jammy dodgers behind the attacks are constantly modifying HckPk disguises to try and get around IT defences. The jerks.

Security lass at Sophos Carole Theriault compared the HckPk threat to Mr Potato Head, saying that "it uses disguises to bamboozle anti-virus protection into thinking the attachment is safe when, in reality, malicious code lies within." She warns that users had better make sure their anti-virus programs know how to "zap" HckPk, or they're in for a world of hurt.

Sophos' top ten list of malware threats in February 07 revealed that HckPk is by far the most dangerous, with a 50.3 per cent stake in the World Worrysome Wibble, followed by Netsky at a comparitively pitiful 15.1 per cent and Mytob at 12.5 per cent. µ