This baby is definitely on the loose. Already being sent to over 160 domains, this worm is heavily spamming the Internet. Just a fellow reminder: if you happen to stumble on an email with the subject “Happy New Year!”, don’t open it.

Verisign is warning of a new worm that travels via e-mail with the subject “Happy New Year!” Users who open an attached executable file trigger installation of several different malicious code variants on their computers, which then execute mass mailings. The worm, which is already being heavily spammed, is being sent via over 160 domains, the security company said.

Beware of e-mails with the subject line “Happy New Year!”

VeriSign is warning that the message may appear to come from a well-wisher but actually contains a worm that could invade your computer and use it for malicious purposes.

The Happy New Year worm is being heavily spammed at a rate of five e-mails per second on at least one large network, VeriSign iDefense Labs revealed Thursday. Multiple large networks reported interceptions of the new e-mail threat on Dec. 28, 2006.[more]

Tags: Malware, Piracy, Spam