Well if everyone quit running that crappy SW from that company in WA, this
wouldn't be a problem :-)
OK - so I'm biased ;-)
- Bryan (UNIX forever!)
>To: "Spridgets" <Spridgets@autox.team.net>
>Subject: Fw: more info on virus (NO LBC)
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>
>Hey All,
>
>There's another new virus attack happening:
>
>> New Virus Strikes E-Mail Systems
>>
>> By D. IAN HOPPER
>> .c The Associated Press
>>
>> WASHINGTON (June 20) - A new computer virus, which looks like a harmless
>text
>> file, has caused shutdowns of the e-mail systems at four Fortune 100
>> companies, anti-virus experts said Monday.
>>
>> The virus does no harm to computer files, but similar to May's ''Love
>Bug''
>> virus, simply multiplies by sending itself out to everyone listed in the
>> infected computer's address book.
>>
>> While users are well-warned about VisualBasic attachments, which appear as
>> ''.vbs'' extensions, the so-called ''Stages'' virus looks like a text
>file,
>> complete with ''.txt'' extension. But the real extension is ''.shs,''
>which
>> stands for Windows Shell Scrap Object. A Scrap file can contain anything,
>> including executable and malicious code.
>>
>> The ''.shs'' extension does not appear even if a user sets Windows to show
>> all file extensions. Microsoft designed this extension to be invisible,
>and
>> it cannot be changed without entering the operating system's most fragile
>> configuration systems.
>>
>> The virus hit companies in the United States by Friday and began appearing
>in
>> Australia and Asia over the weekend, said David Perry of Trend Micro Inc.,
>a
>> maker of anti-virus software.
>>
>> Since then, makers of the popular McAfee anti-virus program have
>reclassified
>> ''Stages'' as a larger threat, and said more than 100 of their customers -
>> many major companies and almost all based in the United States - reported
>> infections. One company had more than 5,000 individual users infected.
>>
>> ''Due to the infection rate, we're moving it to 'high risk,''' said Sal
>> Viveros, a spokesman for McAfee.
>>
>> Viveros said an analysis of the virus showed that it was signed by someone
>> named ''Zulu,'' the same author that wrote the ''Bubbleboy'' virus that
>> appeared last year.
>>
>> ''Stages'' uses Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express mail programs to
>spread,
>> but it can also infect through chat rooms or America Online's ICQ instant
>> messaging software.
>>
>> The e-mail message contains ''funny,'' ''life stages'' or ''jokes'' in the
>> subject line. The text of the message reads ''the male and female stages
>of
>> life,'' with an attachment, ''life-stages.txt'' or
>''life-stages.txt.shs.''
>> The attachment contains a joke about advancing age.
>>
>> Surprisingly, an anti-virus vendor first warned users about the threat of
>> stealthy ''.shs'' files containing viruses in August 1998. But this is the
>> first reported ''.shs'' virus, according to virus experts.
>>
>> Anti-virus companies have issued software updates to catch the new virus
>and
>> are encouraging businesses to filter incoming mail and delete attachments
>> with the ''.shs'' suffix.
>
>
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