SAO PAULO: A new Internet worm capable of stealing bank details and other personal data from users is circulating via Orkut, Google Inc's social networking service, a computer security company warned on Monday.
Instant-messaging service provider FaceTime Communications said its software security lab had detected the spread of the electronic virus, the third such threat to disseminate itself via messages posted on Orkut users personal Web pages.
Google's service, while available globally, is wildly popular among Brazilians which make up the bulk of its users.
The malicious programme, dubbed as "MW.Orc," works its way on to users' personal computers when they click on infected links on Orkut scrapbook pages. The link is followed by a message in Portuguese that entices the user to click.
Once the link is activated, a file is uploaded to the PC, according to a description of how the worm works contained in a statement by the Foster City, California-based company.
When infected Orkut users use Microsoft Corp.'s widely used Windows XP operating system to find personal files on their PCs through their "My Computer" icon, an e-mail is sent back to the creator of MW.Orc creator filled with personal information stored on the PC, FaceTime said.
The new threat to Orkut follows an earlier worm, Banker-BWD, which was uncovered by Sophos, an anti-virus company.
Orkut has around 21.1 million users, 68.56 per cent of whom identify themselves as Brazilians, 12.26 per cent as living in the United States and 5.32, who say they live in India.
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