We're gradually updating threat actor names in our reports to align with the new weather-themed taxonomy. Learn about Microsoft threat actor names
Worm:Win32/Nuqel.AL
Detected by Microsoft Defender Antivirus
Aliases: Downloader-FL (McAfee) WORM_IMAUT.E (Trend Micro) Worm.Win32.AutoRun.fwl (Kaspersky) W32/SillyFDC-G (Sophos) W32.Imaut.N (Symantec)
Summary
Worm:Win32/Nuqel.AL is a member of Win32/Nuqel - a family of worms that may spread via removable or network drives and particular messenger applications. It may also modify a number of system settings to faciliate its actions on an affected computer, and contact a remote host.
Manual removal is not recommended for this threat. To detect and remove this threat and other malicious software that may have been installed, run a full-system scan with an up-to-date antivirus product such as Microsoft Security Essentials, or the Microsoft Safety Scanner. For more information about using antivirus software, see http://www.microsoft.com/security/antivirus/av.aspx.
Additional remediation instructions
This threat may make lasting changes to an affected system's configuration that will NOT be restored by detecting and removing this threat. For more information on returning an affected system to its pre-infected state, please see the following information:
To enable the Task Manager:
For Windows Vista see:http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/Troubleshoot-Task-Manager-problemsFor Windows XP see: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913623/
Disable Autorun functionality
Worm:Win32/Nuqel.AL attempts to spread via removable drives on computers that support Autorun functionality. This is a particularly common method of spreading for many current malware families. For information on disabling Autorun functionality, please see the following article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/967715/