Sality.AK is a virus that spreads to other computers by copying
its code to other files or programs. Sality.AK does not spread
automatically using its own means. It needs an attacking user's
intervention in order to reach the affected computer. The means
of transmission used include, among others, floppy disks, CD-
ROMs, email messages with attached files, Internet downloads,
FTP, IRC channels, peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing networks,
etc. Sality.AK uses the following infection strategies: -
Resident: once it has been run, the virus goes memory resident
and stops functions belonging to the operating system.
Therefore, every time the operating system or an application
tries to access any of these functions, the virus will activate
and infect new files. - Stealth: when the virus is memory
resident, it hides the modifications made to the boot sectors or
files it has infected. These modifications are: changes in size,
date, attributes, etc. - Encrypted: it encrypts its code in
order to make it difficult to detect