The first Brontok variant was detected in October 2005 and since it hasn't ceased crippling organizational networks and home PCs across the world. Even today one or the other Brontok variant finds a place in the top ten Virus lists comprising of wide spread malware types detected globally.

Coming through emails written in Indonesian or broken English, the Worm resides in the attached file. The attachment on most occasions is a '.ZIP' or an '.EXE' file with random names. The message content is more or less in preaching and moral policing mode as they talk about 'stopping free sex' and 'saying no to drugs'. Many varieties of Brontok infect USB drives too, thereby giving them an additional mode of propagation.

After finding its way into a computer, the Worm starts a gamut of harmful activities. Brontok removes the 'folder options' from the Windows Explorer, makes registry entries in order to start itself every time the computer is started, disables the Task Manager and stops the Command Prompt (Run option at the Windows start menu) from working.

The Worm's worst payload comes into play when it locks up the Windows registry altogether, making it impossible to install any software program on the infected computer. Brontok's political colors are displayed when some variants start a 'Ping Flood Attack' on Israeli government websites.

"This Worm has been a quite a headache for network administrators as well as for home PC users as it spreads fast with its dual mode of propagation," points out Manoj Manuskhani, Head - Technology and Marketing, MicroWorld. "Now with the new MWAV, one can not only remove the Worm, but also undo the changes made by it in Windows registry and settings, and repair other damages caused by it."

The free Virus Scanning tool, MWAV, scans computers and detects all sorts of malware like Virus, Worm, Trojan, Bots, along with a wide range of Spyware and Adware. It requires no installation and can be run directly by downloading the software from MicroWorld's website. The best part is MWAV works even when your computer has another AntiVirus running on it already. You can download the software at http://www.mwti.net/products/mwav/mwav.asp.