A new virus, similar to the Love Bug virus of two weeks ago, is
today spreading through computer systems. Several thousand
computers have already been affected.
It is more vicious than the original virus because it is not given
away by the “ILOVEYOU” subject line. Instead, the subject line
changes to the name of a file recently used on the computer from
which it was sent.
The attachment will be a Visual Basic Script (.vbs) file. The
virus will rename all files on the local hard drive with a .vbs
extension and set the file size to zero, essentially making the
computer system inoperable.
It also changes its “fingerprint” while spreading, making it more
difficult for anti-virus software to detect.
Early reports suggest that the virus originated in Israel. It
has already been dubbed the “NewLove” virus.
Like the Love Bug virus, the new virus spreads by mailing itself
to everyone in the Microsoft Outlook address book on the computer
it has infected, but it can affect any computer running Microsoft
Windows if the receiver opens the attachment.
