Microsoft Updates Worm Detection Tool

October's edition of the tool adds four new pieces of malware to the growing list of targets: Antiny, Gibe, Mywife, and Wukill.

Antiny is a name given to a family of worms that spread via a Japanese file-sharing application called Winny, and so is limited to Japan. The other three, however, are less selective in their victims, and use e-mail, and in some cases, network shares, to propagate.

All four are rated as "Moderate" threats by Microsoft, which uses a three-step system to rank malicious code.

A copy of the tool is automatically downloaded, installed, and run on Windows 2000, XP, and Server 2003 on systems set to grab patches from Windows Update or Microsoft Update. Users can also run the tool from the Microsoft Web site or download it from here.