Virus writers have created a proof-of-concept virus, dubbed Gattman, that targets an analysis tool
widely used by anti-virus researchers. Only the most inept anti-virus researchers are likely to become infected, according to one expert, so the interest in the malware is its curiosity value rather than any threat it poses, which is virtually nil.
Gattman spreads using a program called Interactive Disassembler Pro (IDA), a popular reverse engineering tool from Data Rescue, widely used in anti-virus research labs, which converts machine code inside program files into a human-readable source code format. The tool allows the behaviour of code to be analysed.
The malware infects the scripting language used by IDA, elements of which are sometimes shared between researchers during joint analysis efforts, to create a Windows executable file. This executable searches out new IDC files to create a new executable file. Gattmann is programmed only to spread and doesn’t feature any malicious payload. Malware targets security research tool | The Register
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