Panda Software's Virus Laboratory has been receiving reports of incidents caused by Lagel.A (W32/Lagel.A), a new worm that spreads via e-mail. The antivirus software developer advises users to treat all messages received with caution.

Lagel.A sends itself out in an e-mail with the attached file "iLLeGal.exe". If this file is run, the worm carries out the following actions on the affected computer:

1) It displays several messages on the screen.

2) It inserts entries in the Windows Registry in order to ensure it is run every time Windows is started up.

3) It creates the following files:

- %sysdir%\Mplayer.exe. This is run on every Windows start-up.
- %sysdir%\iLLeGal.exe, which contains the worm's code.
- %sysdir%\Mmails.dll, which contains the e-mail addresses the worm obtains from the system.
- %sysdir%\SMTP.ocx. This file is used by Lagel.A to send out the messages that carry it.

To prevent possible incidents caused by Lagel.A, Panda Software advises users to update their antivirus solutions. Users of the company's products can download updates of their antiviruses for detecting and eliminating this malicious code from >. More detailed information about Lagel.A is available in Panda Software's Virus Encyclopedia. Users that want to disinfect their systems online have the antivirus solution Panda ActiveScan available, free of charge, on the company's website.