By: Michael Cowley-Owen (Straight Goods Webmaster)
With the advice of Straight Goods columnist, Bruce Krever, and information gathered at the Symantec AntiVirus Research center, I have tried to separate the hype from the hard information. Here, to the best of my knowledge, are the straight goods:
What is it?
The press has already labelled it the Love Bug, but in the business it is known as VBS.LoveLetter.A. Several copycat variants have already sprung up, including one with the subject line "fwd: Joke".
This "virus" is actually what is known as a "worm" and appears to originate from Manila, Phillipines. It has spread further, more quickly than previous viruses of its kind (probably because of the appeal of the apparent content), infecting hundreds of thousands of computers in every major center on the Internet.
How dangerous is it?
Let's first state that this is not a hoax, BUT IT WILL NOT DESTROY YOUR HARD DRIVE! It will eventually, if undetected, "corrupt" certain files. Some of these could be personal graphic or music files; some could be used in the operation of your browser. It will e-mail itself to everyone in your Microsoft Outlook address book, if that is your e-mail program.
If you receive and read the e-mail, IT WILL NOT DESTROY YOUR HARD DRIVE! In fact, if you only read it, NOTHING will happen. You need to "open" the attachment for it to start the "infection".
If you are not running Microsoft Outlook on a Windows operation system, you will not have a replication problem, although you might have some eventual local file corruption IF you open the attachment.
What does it look like?
You will receive an e-mail that looks something like this:
Subject:
ILOVEYOU
Message body:
kindly check the attached LOVELETTER
coming from me.
Attachment:
LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs
|
WARNING
One of the several variants which have quickly appeared is one nicknamed "Very Funny":
Subject:
fwd: Joke
Attachment:
Very Funny.vbs
This is just as dangerous as the ILOVEYOU original.
|
How does it work?
VBS is the file extension for Microsoft's Visual Basic Scripting language, a machine level code used by many MS products (the same language used to create macro viruses - remember them?). Once activated (executed), by being "opened", one of these "mini-programs" can take control of your processor without your knowledge and do practically anything "legal" within the operating system, such as reading and writing files.
What can it do?
Local damage: Overwrites files with the following extensions: .vbs, .vbe, .js, .jse, .css, .wsh, .sct, .hta, .jpg, .jpeg, .mp3, and .mp2.
System damage: Might clog mail servers causing "denial of service".
What should you do?
DO NOT OPEN THE ATTACHMENT! ! !
If you get an e-mail message with the subject line ILOVEYOU, delete it immediately. Also, to be completely safe, delete it from your Deleted Items and Trash folders, as used by your e-mail program, and your Recycle Bin.
If your computer is already infected, visit a technical information site, such as the Symantec AntiVirus site below, and follow their advice. If you are not familiar with the Windows registry system, do NOT try to fix it yourself! If your machine is part of a network, notify your system administrator (by phone) immediately. Do NOT reboot your computer without advice. There is usually NO NEED to do anything drastic, like reformating your hard drive. That is the LAST resort.
How can you prevent viruses from spreading?
Never open executable file attachments, such as .EXE, .COM, .BAT, .SHS, and .VBS, if it is received unexpectedly, even from a person you trust. Ask the sender to confirm sending it before opening it. And never open attachments received from unknown sources.
Do not forward/redirect "stuff" that someone else has sent you. And avoid the temptation to send "joke" hoaxes... it's NOT FUNNY anymore.
Remember, you are still responsible for practicing 'safe computing' to protect yourself and others.
Get More/Do More
More technical Information: www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/vbs.loveletter.a.html
What the mainstream press (CNN) is saying: www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/05/04/iloveyou/index.html
What Straight Goods computer columnist Bruce Krever has to say on this very subject: Safe computing: Medicinal measures for modem and mouse
Other related Straight Goods articles:
Inoculate yourself against virus hoaxes - Bruce Krever
The real meaning of the e-mail attacks - Robert Labossiere
"Hackers" take false rap for e-mail storm that blows Yahoo! - Robert Labossiere
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