Security threats Toolkit

Google mistake spreads email worm

Joris Evers CNET News

Published: 09 Nov 2006 10:36 GMT

Google on Tuesday inadvertently sent the Kama Sutra email worm to the 50,000 subscribers of a Google Video email group.

Three postings were made on Tuesday evening to an email list that sends out postings to the Google Video blog. "Some of these posts may have contained a virus called W32/Kapser.A@mm — a mass-mailing worm," Google said in a note on its website apologising for the incident.

W32/Kapser.A is better known as the Kama Sutra worm. Some antivirus companies raised an alarm about the threat in February, but it ultimately shrivelled. Kama Sutra was designed to overwrite files on infected computers on a specific date. However, the worm, which spread under the guise of pornographic content, caused virtually no damage.

Google advises people who may have received the worm in email or downloaded it from the group's website to run an antivirus program to remove it. The company is taking steps to make sure it doesn't make the same mistake again, it said.

The Google Video email group is open to anyone. It had 50,025 subscribers as of Wednesday afternoon. The contents are advertised as interesting and fun videos from Google Video.

Google has had several mishaps lately. Its corporate blog has been hacked and, at one point, the company also accidentally deleted its official blog.