'Mimail' E-Mail Virus Spreads Quickly in U.S.
By RIVA RICHMOND
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK -- A computer virus, dubbed "Mimail," spread aggressively through U.S. e-mail systems Friday after being seeded by a spam blast.
The virus, which only affects PCs running Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating systems, comes in a message that appears to come from the recipient's technology staff, reading admin@ and his domain name, for example admin@dowjones.com. The subject line reads: "your account," followed by gibberish and "[VIRUSES STRIPPED]."
The message in the e-mail says: "Hello there, I would like to inform you about important information regarding your email address. This email address will be expiring. Please read attachment for details. Best regards, Administrator."
Opening the attached HTML file, a file type most computer users consider to be safe, launches the virus. That's because the virus author took advantage of a known flaw in Microsoft's Internet Explorer software that allowed him trick users by hiding a malicious executable program in an HTML file, according to Internet Security Systems Inc.
Once activated, the virus grabs e-mail addresses from files found on the infected computer and sends itself out to a new set of potential victims. The virus can inundate e-mail systems, but it doesn't cause any additional damage.
Antivirus-software maker Network Associates Inc., which rates the risk from the virus as a medium, said in an advisory that the virus "was likely spammed to thousands of email addresses."
According to e-mail filtering company MessageLabs, Mimail was the No. 3 most prevalent virus during the last 24 hours, after the long-lived Klez.H and Yaha.E viruses. The firm had stopped about 3,200 copies from reaching its corporate customers and called the risk high. The messages arrived from 18 countries, with 91% originating from the U.S. |
