FBI warns of new computer virus

Corporate IT Update, June 23, 2000

CORPORATE IT UPDATE-(C)1995-2000 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

The FBI has begun an investigation into the latest computer virus, which is thought to have originated in Argentina.

Dubbed 'Stages', the virus does not delete any files but it does automatically send itself to everyone listed in the victim's Microsoft Outlook address book.

The virus is said to be harder to detect because its extension, '.shs', is automatically hidden by Windows. This means that many recipients will assume that the attachment is a harmless text file and open it. The e-mail containing the virus can be identified by a subject line of 'Life Stages', 'Funny' or 'Jokes' and sometimes the word 'text' appended to the title.

Rather than spreading the virus directly, the author posted it to a selected number of obscure web sites. When triggered it activated links to pornographic sites and changed the start page of the victims' Internet Explorer browser to a porn site.

Sky and Delta Air Lines are among the major companies forced to close their computer systems as a precaution against the virus, according to Sky News.

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