Posted by Steven on May 08, 2000 at 13:24:01:
One more reason I love having a Macintosh! No fear, mate.
**********************************************************
From a Reuters article 05-05-00 titled:
ANALYSIS-Love Bug virus rides e-mail, hits graphic files
Excerpts:
“The virus only works on Microsoft because it was programmed that way," Hypponen said. "The functionality in Windows is not secure and this makes it more vulnerable to viruses."
"Users of the Unix programming language or the Apple Computer Corp.'s software were not likely to be at risk.”
**********************************************************
Entire Ruters article (if anyone cares):
ANALYSIS-Love Bug virus rides e-mail, hits graphic files
By Paul de Bendern
HELSINKI, May 5 (Reuters) - The "Love Bug" computer virus, which on Friday attacked millions of PCs worldwide, is an Internet-borne bug spread by e-mail chain letter that targets users of some of the word's most popular software.
The virus, thought to have originated in the Philippines, is the fastest-spreading and most pernicious "worm" to have struck global computer systems to date, with the British Parliament and the U.S. Defense Department numbering among its victims.
Targeting picture, graphics and multi-media files, it shuts down e-mail systems, steals passwords from users and destroys data in popular applications such as Microsoft's The bug may be unstoppable en masse, but individual PC users can protect themselves by simply deleting the e-mails that carry it, the most publicised of which has "ILOVEYOU" in the subject line with an attachment called LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU-TXT.vbs. "This Internet worm uses the e-mail to send itself through computer networks globally," said U.S. security computer firm Symantec Corp's Mikko Hypponen, manager of anti-virus research at Finland's security software services group F-Secure Corp. F-Secure, which said it had been the first to discover the virus on Thursday, said it was more damaging than the "Melissa" virus which caused chaos in the United States last year. Anti-virus experts said another factor behind the success of the "Love Bug" was that it works on the world's most widely used operating system -- Windows 98, another product of software giant Microsoft. "The virus only works on Microsoft because it was programmed that way," Hypponen said. "The functionality in Windows is not secure and this makes it more vulnerable to viruses." Users of the Unix programming language or the Apple Computer Corp.'s While most personal computer users globally employ the Microsoft Windows operating system, not all use its e-mail and Internet software, limiting the risks to those only using U.S. Microsoft Corp's Windows system. TAINTED LOVE To trigger the virus, the unsuspecting user clicks on the "ILOVEYOU" e-mail, which then asks the user to "Kindly check the attached LOVELETTER coming from me." The attached document, called LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs, is not a text file at all but a macro (or set of instructions) written in Visual Basic Script (VBS) language. The virus then launches the VBS software programme, which is written for Microsoft systems. Anti-virus experts found two more variants of the lethal virus. One e-mail is called "Susitikim shi vakara kavos puodukui..." rather than than "ILOVE YOU," but still has the LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs attachment. The third virus e-mail has "fwd:joke" in the subject line, with the attachment named "Very Funny.vbs." First, the virus finds the Outlook application, copying all the e-mail addresses in the address book and spreading the virus to those users. "It sends a copy of the VBS script with your name to everyone in your address book, and then it goes to companies' global e-mail address books and so on," Hypponen said. Once the virus has got into a system, it searches for certain file types in all folders on all local and remote drives and overwrites them with its own codes. The files that are overwritten have either "vbs" or "vbe" extensions. The virus also inserts an HTML (hypertext markup language) copy of itself into Internet Relay Chat (IRC) rooms, meaning that once a user with the virus goes online to chat, the virus spreads to other chat room users. The worm also replaces the Internet Explorer homepage with a link for an executable programme, "WIN-BUGSFIX.exe." If the file is downloaded, the worm adds this to the computer's internal file list, or registry, and then starts attacking more files. Symantec Corp's London office said it expected 90 percent of company computers globally to be hit by the Love Bug virus. MUSIC, PICTURE FILES HIT HARDEST Because the virus is written to target graphic and music data files, media organisation such as radio stations using digital MP3 music files, publishing houses, newspapers and magazines have been hardest hit. "It has been programmed to attack MP3 music files and JPG picture files, so it's obvious the creator wanted to attack those that use graphics, picture and music," Hypponen said. MP3 files are not deleted but made invisible, meaning they can be retrieved safely at a later stage. The virus also copies passwords from computers it strikes, but F-Secure's Hypponen said this was no longer a problem as a server in the Philippines key to the process had been shut down on Thursday. The Love Bug is the most serious computer virus to date, but experts expect more, and perhaps even more lethal bugs. Such a virus could be created easily, they added. "A 15-year-old person could have written this virus, by taking an old virus and using it as a template," Hypponen said. "It is becoming increasingly easy because more and more documentation and more pople know the scripting language of software, so it is easier to develop and write macro viruses." ((Helsinki newsroom +358-9-680 50 247, fax +358-9-680 2284, helsinki.newsroom@reuters.com)) REUTERS Rtr 11:48 05-05-00 Copyright 2000, Reuters News Service. All rights reserved. Replication or redistribution of Reuter's content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.