9/11 virus

["Bassett, Mark" <mbassett () omaha com>]

Here we go again.. :P


http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2003/0904firstofpe.html

By Dan Verton
Computerworld
09/04/03

Antivirus researchers late Wednesday discovered what is being described
as the first of potentially many "9/11" anniversary viruses spreading on
the Internet.

While it's too early to tell what, if any, damage the new virus is
causing, Eric Kwon, president and CEO of San Jose-based Hauri Inc., the
company that discovered the virus, said its impact seems to be similar
to that caused by the recent outbreak of the Sobig worm, which
overloaded e-mail servers with large volumes of spam.

The 9/11 virus contains the headline "It's Near 911" or a similar
variation, as well as an attachment labeled "911.jpg." Users should not
open the e-mail or the attached file.

"Like previous worm viruses, the 9/11 virus collects e-mail lists from
Microsoft Outlook in order to spread more rapidly, using the provocative
headline about 9/11 to get the unsuspecting user to open the e-mail,"
said Kwon. "In this case, there also appears to be an intention of
causing fear, as well as a possible political motivation."

Many virus experts have been expecting an outbreak of some kind of
specific 9/11 virus or worm, and this may be just the first of many to
appear in the wild during the next two weeks, added Kwon.

Antivirus company Symantec Corp. also identified the virus, which it
called W32.Neroma@mm, on its Web site, saying it is a "mass-mailing worm
that attempts to use Microsoft Outlook to e-mail itself to all the
contacts in the Windows Address Book."




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