New virus creates Shockwaves
Published: 01 Dec 2000 09:41 GMT
A new virus is beginning to send shockwaves around the world. Experts say the worm is travelling faster than the speed of light to a computer near you.
The virus, known as TROJ_Shockwave.a arrives as an email message similar to the infamous Melissa and Love Bug worms.
"We've learnt from the Love Bug virus, [this virus] has the same capabilities, but we're able to contain it quicker," a spokesperson from anti-virus company Trend Micro said.
The attachment is an .exe file called creative.exe, which disguises itself as "a great Shockwave flash movie" in the subject line of the email.
The message on the email prompts the user to download the movie. If the file is executed, the worm will send itself as an attachment to every address listed in the infected user's address book.
Furthermore, the virus also changes the filenames of all JPG and ZIP files and then moves the files to the C:\ root directory.
"The virus is not destructive, just a nuisance... It's still possible to manually restore the files," the spokesperson said.
A sighting has been confirmed in Australia, only a few hours after reports of major corporations in the United States being infected. Trend Micro has put the virus on 'high alert', stating that the worm is travelling at high speed.
With warnings of an increased amount of viruses expected to be sent throughout the festive season, this Christmas spoiler has come early.
"We're advising extreme caution, especially in this period. Users shouldn't run anything that hasn't been scanned or that they don't know what it is," the spokesperson said.
An updated report has been released by Trend Micro, revealing the worm sends itself twice to all entries in the users address book. It then sends an email to z14xym432@yahoo.com with the subject line "Job complete" and a message saying "Got yet another idiot".
"If [you] get the subject message, don't run the attachment, just delete it," said the spokesperson
During this period, Trend Micro is providing a free virus scan service. If users have a suspicious email sent to them, they can email the file to Virus Doctor for analysis.
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