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VIRUS ALERT! New Variant of Love Bug Virus and it's more destructive and more difficult to detect! (fwd)



This is more detailed info on the virus variants.  Scary.

Sylvia Bugbee
University of Vermont

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 19 May 2000 12:18:59 -0400
From: Kor Kiley <Kor.Kiley@UVM.EDU>
Reply-To: UVM Libraries/Media Services Internal Communications
    <LIBER@LIST.UVM.EDU>
To: LIBER@LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: VIRUS ALERT!  New Variant of Love Bug Virus and it's more
        destructive and more difficult to detect!

Everyone please read the following!  - Kor Kiley

Virulent Variant of Love Bug Virus Spreading
By PETER SVENSSON, AP Business Writer
Updated 4:32 AM ET May 19, 2000

http://news.excite.com/news/ap/000519/04/news-new-love-bug

--------------------------------------------------------


NEW YORK (AP) - A new virus is eating its way through
computers, and this one is smarter and more destructive
than the worldwide "Love Bug" plague that inspired it,
experts say.

While the "Love Bug" was given away by the "ILOVEYOU"
subject line of the e-mails that carried it, the new
virus changes subject lines every time it is sent. It
also destroys most of the files on the computers it
infects.

"Each time the virus spreads, it mutates itself to evade
detection," according to Symantec Corp., an anti-virus
software maker in Cupertino, Calif.

The virus was detected at several large companies late
Thursday, said Dave Perry, spokesman for another
anti-virus software maker, Trend Micro Inc. in
Cupertino. At one company, 5,000 computers were
infected, said Perry, who would not identify any of the
companies affected.

The subject line of an infected e-mail starts with "FW:
" and includes the name of a randomly chosen attachment
from a previous e-mail on an infected computer. The
e-mail will have an attachment with the same name, but
ending in ".vbs."

Clicking on the attachment will activate the virus. Like
"Love Bug," it will send itself to everyone in the
user's address book. It will then overwrite most files
on the hard drive, rendering the computer useless until
the operating system is reinstalled.

So far, Microsoft's Outlook is the only e-mail program
the virus is attacking, said Anita Chen, a spokeswoman
for Trend Micro. Microsoft has said it will next week
make available a modification to Outlook that will warn
users about suspect e-mail attachments.

The size of the virus's attachments are more likely to
crash e-mail servers, experts said. The "Love Bug" had a
small attachment, but crashed e-mail servers all over
the world when it sent millions of copies of itself
through the systems at once.

The "Love Bug" spread like an avalanche to millions of
computers two weeks ago. Estimates of the damages caused
range up to $10 billion, and investigators have
questioned several people in the Philippines during the
search for the author.

The relatively simple "Love Bug" virus was followed some
hours later by slightly modified variants, posing as
jokes or confirmations on Mother's Day gifts. None of
the variants were very widespread.

Trend Micro's Perry said he hoped that increased
awareness among e-mail users would hold back the spread
of the new virus.

"Any time a virus hits a week after another virus, its
potency is diminished," he said. "People tend to be a
little more cautious."

---

On the Net:

Trend Micro:
        http://www.antivirus.com

Symantec:
        http://www.symantec.com

Microsoft Office Update:
        http://officeupdate.microsoft.com

CERT Coordination Center, a government-chartered computer security team:
        http://www.cert.org

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