Another ' Heads Up' People
Pesky Netsky Virus Swamps the Net
Netsky.D relies on curious users to open the email it travels in and click on the attachment
A destructive new computer virus is spreading by email at an unprecedented rate.
The Netsky.D virus, the fourth version of an email worm that scours networks seeking new addresses to send itself to, appeared for the first time on Monday, but since then has spawned seven variants worldwide.
Netsky.D can infect machines running Windows 95, 98, 2000, ME and XP.
Like many other recent Windows viruses Netsky.D relies on curious users to open the email it travels in and click on the attachment it carries to launch the malicious program.
Carol Theriault, security consultant at anti-virus company Sophos, said the virus was "clogging up e-mail communication".
She said: "Its main problem is it's spreading quite wildly. Even if you have anti-virus protection it's clogging up email communication and slowing everything down.
"There's so much traffic, it's like 10,000 people trying to get into Harrods at the same time."
The virus disguises itself using a number of subject lines and names for the attachment.
But users can spot it because all the attachments bear the same .pif suffix. They can then delete it before it causes harm.
Netsky.D avoids sending itself to anti-virus firms and Microsoft in a bid to maximise the time it gets to spread.
Ms Theriault said she didn't believe Netsky.D would be as bad as last year's Sobig and Blaster viruses, but that would depend on how people reacted.
"Companies can block all programme files coming in from e-mail - this will protect them from this virus and all future viruses," she said.
She advised users to be wary of messages they were not expecting that arrived bearing attachments.
"Users should not click on attachments if they do not know what they contain," she added.
Source AOL.
Update your anti-virus software as soon as possible folks.
Harry0
Orgasminator
