More on the Microsoft Outlook, and Microsoft Visual Basic Script Mess:
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New 'Love Bug' Virus Threatens Computers
Reuters Photo
By Dan Lalor
LONDON (Reuters) - Software security firms warned computer users on Friday to guard against a new, potentially more destructive strain of the 'Love Bug' virus that swept the world earlier this month.
But while experts said several thousand computers had been infected by the new e-mail virus, hopes were growing it may not spread as widely as the first Love Bug did because firms have updated security since.
This second threat to the world's computer network in a matter of weeks may finally prompt concerted government action to fight a crime that ignores national borders and which is covered by few international treaties.
Germany's interior minister, Otto Schily, said: ``The new virus attack shows that such threats are not technical games but rather criminal actions which must be met with early countermeasures.''
The new virus causes greater damage than the original because it wipes files clean and tries to hide by constantly changing its appearance, said Eric Chien, chief research manager for U.S. computer security firm Symantec Corp (NasdaqNM:SYMC - news).
But because firms have generally been on greater alert ''this is not nearly as bad as the earlier one,'' Finnish software security firm F-Secure (FSC1V.HE) Chief Executive Risto Siilasmaa told Reuters.
``It may grow more intense, but it will probably not be nearly as bad as the original...it would have spread more rapidly from the beginning.''
Nevertheless, Simon Perry, vice president of security solutions at U.S.-based Computer Associates (NYSE:CA - news) warned that ''with destructive payloads inside this version, the stakes and costs are much higher than before''.
Perry said the virus renamed all files on a computer's local hard drive and associated network drives with a VBS (visual basic script) extension and set the file size to zero -- effectively making the computer's system and network inoperable.
Vbs Extension Important
Alan Stevens, head of digital services at Britain's Consumers Association, said the VBS extension was key to recognizing and eliminating the virus.
``You would not normally expect someone to send you an e-mail with a VBS extension. They are unusual, so they should be a dead giveaway to someone who knows what they are doing.''
The virus, which targets users of Microsoft's (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) Outlook program, arrives with ``FW:'' in the subject line. This is not that unusual in itself, simply signifying the message has been forwarded from elsewhere. The virulent VBS extension is contained in the body of the e-mail.
Once opened, the virus will send itself to everyone in the recipient's Outlook address book, just as Love Bug did, but the attached file name may change each time a new e-mail is sent. The Love Bug virus mainly carried the message: ``I love you''.
Symantec's Chien said the new bug was ``more nasty'' than Love Bug because ``it is highly polymorphic...it changes the way it looks every time''.
He rated its current spread as ``medium'' but gave it a ''high'' rating for its potential to replicate further.
Symantec clients in Europe and Israel had been affected, but the main impact was on North American clients, Chien said.
Raimund Genes, managing director of Trend Micro, a German messaging and Internet access provider, said the impact of the virus would vary among computers because it was mutating.
``Some computers will still work but send out the virus,'' he said, while others will become inoperable.
Best Advice: Beware Vbs
Computer users were advised to filter for e-mails with the word ``FW'' along with an attachment with a .VBS extension.
Then, any e-mail attachments with a VBS extension should be treated with caution, Stevens at the Consumers Association said. ``The normal rules apply. Make sure all files are backed up and be cautious with the unusual.''
Chien at Symantec said his company was having to write new code to send to clients, whereas the solution to Love Bug had been more of a ready-made job.
The original Love Bug virus crippled computers worldwide, including some at the U.S. Pentagon, and is estimated to have cost $7 billion in damage. A Philippine computer school dropout is under investigation for spreading the cyber-worm.
Governments In Action
Attempts to establish some sort of global effort to tackle cybercrime have tended to quickly become mired amid the niceties of international law and regional jealousies, but something has been happening.
The Council of Europe is drafting an international convention to fight hackers, virus writers and fraudsters who steal credit card numbers or defraud online consumers, although it will not be ready for signing before September 2001. |
