[jdom-interest] another virus alert

[Eric Rasmussen]

> A new virus is spreading that not only is a pest but can do a lot of
damage to your system.
>
> It will have the subject "FW: Naked Wife,"
>
> Do not, under any circumstances, open the attachment that comes with this
e-mail.
>
> Details are:
>
> WASHINGTON (March 6, 2001 4:48 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - A
destructive computer virus known as "Naked Wife" hit at least 30
organizations and one federal agency Tuesday, security experts said.
>
> Like the most recent widespread virus that used the name of tennis star
Anna Kournikova, this new program called "Naked Wife" takes advantage of
users "baser instincts," an antivirus company spokeswoman said.
>
> Steve Trilling, director of research at the Symantec Antivirus Research
Center, said about 20 of Symantec's clients in Canada, the United States and
Europe had been hit.
>
> Trilling said the virus, which appears with the subject line "FW: Naked
Wife," deletes almost all of a computer's vital system files. It also sends
itself out to everyone in the user's e-mail address book.
>
> "It essentially destroys your Windows operating system," he said.
>
> The virus e-mail contains an attachment called "NakedWife.exe." Like most
viruses, the recipient's computer is only infected if the receiver runs the
attachment, and major antivirus companies have released software that
detects and removes it.
>
> Susan Orbach, spokeswoman for Trend Micro, said her company has received
reports of infections from 10 corporate clients, including two large
telecommunications firms, a federal agency and a "multinational
conglomerate," she said.
>
> "This is not any new technology we haven't seen before," Orbach said.
"It's social engineering to take advantage of our baser instincts."
>
> Both Trilling and Orbach suggested that corporate network administrators
block incoming program attachments, since it seems that computer users will
continue to click on suspicious attachments, no matter how many times
they're stung.
>
> "Very few people have a legitimate reason to receive executable files in
e-mail," Orbach said. "Haven't people learned?"