Skype worm leaves Sophos users unfazed.

Sophos says that a recent worm outbreak on the Skype network highlights the importance of proactive virus protection. The worm, which has been spreading via Skype's instant messaging system, has not managed to infect Sophos users who were proactively protected against the threat without requiring an update.

The W32/Pykse-C worm (also known as Ramex, Skipi or Pykspa) spreads via Skype's chat system in a variety of languages including English, Russian and Lithuanian. Receipients of the instant messages are invited to click on a link to what they believe will be a JPG picture, but is in fact a downloadable executable. However, unlike many other anti-virus vendors, Sophos did not have to issue an update to protect its users against the malware as Sophos's Behavioral Genotype Protection technology was already able to proactively identify it as Mal/Behav-103. Users of other vendors' products are recommended to update their protection and ensure that they are defended from the threat.

"Hackers are becoming more inventive in their attempts to infect PC owners. Sophos's millions of users weren't affected by this latest attack because our proactive protection intercepts the attempt to infect PCs without requiring an update," said Sophos. "With so much money to be made, the hackers aren't going to stop trying to break into PCs anytime soon. Everyone needs to take safety seriously online, which includes ensuring that a secure defense is in place."