From: Ron Ayres (asa at domain gofree.indigo.ie)
Date: Thu 04 May 2000 - 13:23:11 IST
Reuters reports world wide proliferation this morning... 10 % of UK
companies are down. Spread from Asia to Europe so far.
DJ Loveletter Computer Virus Hits UK; Fastest-Spreading
Seen<4704.Q><TMIC.O> LONDON (Dow Jones)--A computer virus known as
VBF_LOVELETTERS has hit the U.K., and experts say it is the
fastest-spreading virus seen yet. The virus, which comes in an e-mail with
the subject line ILOVEYOU, infects the user's computer as soon as they open
an attachment linked to the message. Like the well-known Melissa virus, the
key problem with this virus is that it can crash servers by creating a huge
volume of mail. It replicates itself and sends messages to everyone in the
victim's e-mail address book, unlike earlier viruses which send themselves
to 20 or 50 other people. It can also use Internet chat groups to spread -
with an infected user giving the virus access to all users in a chat group.
"It's the worst one I've seen in that it's the fastest-spreading," said Rolf
Rennemo, European product manager for anti-virus software company Trend
Micro Inc (TMIC). [nDJD400AD9] [DJF] [DJA] [DJE] [DJR] [DJU] [APL] [ASIA]
> --
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.
DJ Love Bug Hits Asia; E-Mail Virus Attacks Businesses<.DJI><MSFT.O> HONG
KONG (Dow Jones)--A computer virus spread by e-mail messages bearing the
title "I Love You" spread through Asian businesses Thursday afternoon, and
appeared to be quickly tainting computer systems worldwide. If the
attachment holding the virus is opened, the virus apparently multiplies by
finding other e-mail addresses and prompting the computer to generate new
e-mail. Victims sometimes receive dozens of e-mail messages, all
contaminated with the virus. The virus, which appeared in Hong Kong late
Thursday afternoon, seemed to particularly hit, among other businesses,
public relations firms and investment banks. Dow Jones Newswires and the
Asian Wall Street Journal offices in Asia were among its victims. In Hong
Kong, Nomura International (HK) Ltd. is receiving the e-mail virus, an
analyst said. The virus has created a lot of damage in Nomura's London
office, he said. "It just multiplies through the system and eradicates whole
address books," the analyst said. Simon Flint, currency strategist at Bank
of America in Singapore, said he has received e-mail messages warning him of
the virus but hasn't received the actual virus. DJ Love Bug/Asia-2: Virus
May Have Come From Philippines<.DJI><MSFT.O> The virus may have been
generated in the Philippines, and comes from an e-mail address
ispyder at domain mail.com. It also declares "I hate to go to school." A print-out of
the coding of the virus indicates it could change file names, and taint
system files, which become infected by the virus if a computer is rebooted.
A computer expert said that computers shouldn't be shut down and then
restarted to avoid damaging system files. It appears there is no antivirus
program immediately available to fight it. Credit Suisse First Boston issued
a global e-mail memo to employees warning them not to open the I Love You
messages, spokesman Tom Grimmer said. The virus, however, hadn't infiltrated
the computer system, adding that "the firewall that we have is pretty good."
A source at Credit Lyonnais Securities (Asia) said the brokerage house shut
its outgoing mail server 11 minutes after receiving the virus, to prevent it
from going any further. The source said CLSA has posted a note on the
Internet looking for an antivirus, although they believe there may not be
one available. However, the virus didn't affect CLSA's files, the source
said. Another banking source said his bank received the virus from London.
It is understood the virus corrupts the Internet Explorer browser and
Microsoft's Outlook e-mail and office system. In Singapore, Citibank's
e-mail system was shut down as the bank was flooded with the message, but
the extent of the damage wasn't known, said a source. The bank has sent out
a regional alert on the virus. A spokesman for Singapore's Infocomm
Development Authority, which monitors virus attacks, said no calls about the
virus had been made to its hotline as of 5 p.m. local time, when it closed
for the day. -By Elizabeth Rudall, Hasan Jafri, Chris Wellisz, Kate Pound
Dawson; (852) 2832-2331; (END) Dow Jones Newswires
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Ronnie
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