We reported on this story late last week - now there’s a Trojan in the wild that Symantec is calling Trojan.Phel.A (more info about the Windows security holes Aunty reported on is here).

“Trojan.Phel.A attempts to infect computers running Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 or later.” It also downloads and executes Backdoor.Coreflood, a Trojan that turns the infected computer into an IRC bot used to attack other computers. Like Aunty said, Thanks! (NOT)

Phel Trojan targets Windows flaw

Bill Brenner of SeachSecurity.com writes: A Trojan horse program is targeting one of the security holes recently found in Windows. It doesn’t look serious, but experts worry bigger exploits could be around the corner.

Meanwhile, Microsoft confirmed it’s investigating the reported vulnerabilities and blasted Chinese security forum Xfocus for bringing the details to light over the holiday weekend. An attacker could exploit the vulnerabilities — discovered by Venustech Security Labs of China — to cause a denial of service and launch spyware or other malicious code.

“Microsoft is disappointed that Xfocus took actions that could put computer users at risk by not following the commonly accepted industry practice of privately reporting security vulnerabilities to software vendors,” a spokeswoman for the software giant said in an e-mail. “This practice, known as responsible disclosure, allows vendors to review the reports for accuracy and to determine the best response for customers.”

Well, Bill says it isn’t serious - but I’d say that making your computer into an IRC bot IS serious - if only for the legal ramifications…