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To: Robert who wrote (9418)	6/10/1999 9:08:00 PM
From: DEER HUNTER	Respond to of 21143

off topic....on computer viruses.... Thursday June 10, 7:55 pm Eastern Time ExploreZip virus hitting Internet, experts warn By Dick Satran SAN FRANCISCO, June 10 (Reuters) - Computer security experts warned Thursday of a new email-borne computer infection that's speading over the Internet in a fashion similar to the widespread Melissa virus. The new infection, ''called the ExploreZip worm,'' can potentially erase files from a user's computer, making it inherently more dangerous than the Melissa virus, which gained notoriety for its ability to spread quickly but not because it destroyed any data. ExploreZip is known as a worm, not a virus, because it can't replicate itself. Computer viruses such as Melssa, which appeared in March, are written with the capability to reproduce through automation. But even if it can't reproduce itself, it's spreading quickly, experts said. Network Associates Inc., the computer security firm, said it gave ExploreZip a ''high risk'' classification because it doubled overnight and has already shown up on thousands of computers in the United States, France and Germany. The company said it believes the worm originated in Israel. The computer bug is cleverly disguised as an e-mail that appears to be a response to an earlier message, borrowing a page from Melissa, which appeared as a benign e-mail and surreptiously sent messages to other users. ''I received your e-mail, and I shall reply ASAP,'' the ExploreZip message reads. ''Till then, take a look at the zipped docs.'' The computer experts warned users to delete that message. Users who respond by clicking on the attached file will launch the virus into their computer that will then destroy Microsoft Outlook, Express and possibly other e-mail related documents. Leading computer security companies Network Associates (http://www.nai.com), Symantec Corp. (http://symantec.com) and Trend Micro Inc. (http://www.antivirus.com) all have offered virus protection patches that can be downloaded from their sites to identify and eliminate the bug. ''Apart from the using the anti-virus software, we just recommend that people not open any file that they can't verify the origin of,'' said a Network Associates official.