Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Three New Virus-Infected E-Mails

Three sets of e-mails which promise either nude pictures of Paris Hilton, a scary official-looking warning from the FBI, or a secret admirer who says "I love you" have appeared in the last two days.

They all deliver a package that could grind networks to a halt. Fortunately, none of these will reach "Anna Kornikova" worm or "Love" bug proportions but they will take away hours of productive work time. Be on the lookout!

In a statement released late Tuesday, the FBI detailed the threat, which attempts to lure e-mail users into opening an attachment containing computer virus.

The mail is disguised as correspondence warning people that their Internet use has been monitored by the FBI's Internet Fraud Complaint Center and that they have "accessed illegal Web sites." The e-mails then direct recipients to open the virus-laden attachment to answer a series of questions.

The newest "I Love You" virus was discovered by antivirus company Sophos and has been dubbed Assiral. It mimics the earlier virus, which used the phrase "I love you" in subject lines to entice recipients into opening the destructive e-mail and attachment (which was typically titled "love-letter-for-you").

The Paris Hilton e-mail contains a new variant of the Sober virus and sends itself in German and English, using a variety of subject lines, including "Paris Hilton, pure!" and "Paris Hilton SexVideos."

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