By taking advantage of ActiveX and the Windows Scripting Host, the worm infects users who open infected HTML format email messages. The worm arrives embedded in an email message as the message HTML signature. The recipient of the message cannot see any visible symptoms as there is no displayable text in the signature. The KakWorm may also infect newsgroup postings, which are downloaded via the OE newsreader. Users of non-Microsoft browsers or mailers are not affected.
Scripts are usually safe.
Microsoft has issued a security bulletin and provided a patch that eliminates security vulnerabilities in two ActiveX controls.