Computer Virus Delivers Havoc Through E-Mail
A new computer virus--apparently not as swift but significantly more destructive than the recent Melissa contagion--spread across the Internet on Thursday, disrupting e-mail for countless users and crippling systems at giant corporations.
The virus is the latest in an outbreak of infectious programs that are particularly contagious because they spread by e-mail. But unlike many of its recent predecessors, the latest virus carries a harmful payload, deleting the contents of files on computers that it infects.
Companies plagued by the virus include such giants as General Electric Co. and Boeing Co., as well as upstart electronic commerce firms such as DiTech Funding Corp., an Irvine-based online mortgage service.
A spokesman at Boeing said the virus has inflicted the worst computer damage in recent memory at the company. The airplane maker is shutting down its e-mail system, which serves 150,000 users.
Preying mainly on e-mail and files created with Microsoft Corp. software, the virus was originally spotted Monday in Israel, and has since been reported in the U.S., Germany, France and the Czech Republic.
But even though many companies were forced to shut down e-mail and other systems, the virus has so far not spread as swiftly as the Melissa virus, which whipped around the world at alarming speeds in March.
The new virus “may spread slowly from one site to another,” said Mark Zajicek of the Computer Emergency Response Team, a security organization at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh. “But once it gets inside an organization, it can spread swiftly.”
By late Thursday about 20 infected systems had been reported to CERT, Zajicek said, adding that each system can represent thousands of users.
The virus, contained in an e-mail attachment, spreads by using e-mail addresses stored in Microsoft’s e-mail programs Outlook, Outlook Express and Exchange. It only affects users with the Microsoft Windows operating system.
An infected computer will automatically send e-mail messages to addresses on messages in the user’s in box. The infected e-mail comes with an attachment that, if opened, infiltrates the recipient’s e-mail software and deletes random files. Three months ago, the similar Melissa bug spread through e-mail and disabled computers around the world.
The new virus is seen as more damaging because it will erase random files written on Microsoft programs, including word processing, spreadsheets and software used to create corporate presentations.
“That’s a pretty nasty thing for people to target,” said Roger Thompson, director of malicious code research for computer security company ICSA Inc. “That’s your work that they are after. If you don’t have backups, they are gone.”
The virus, named Worm.ExploreZip, also will delete files stored on computer networks connected to infected computers. Users with any type of e-mail software can be infected, though the virus only spreads by e-mailing itself from an infected computer that has Microsoft’s e-mail programs.
The virus “made it look like you knew who it was coming from,” GE spokeswoman Pam Wickham said. GE on Thursday installed updated anti-virus software, which stemmed the damage, she said.
The infected message says: “I received your e-mail and I shall send you a reply ASAP. Till then, take a look at the attached zipped docs.”
A user’s computer becomes infected once he or she clicks on the attachment.
Computer security experts are still unsure of the extent of the damage, as they continue to handle calls from clients.
“A number of large companies with names you’d recognize have seen the worm and are tracking it on their systems,” said Wes Wasson, a product-marketing director with Network Associates, an anti-virus software company.
Other security software companies also are recording damage reports. Symantec Corp. said at least 10 U.S. clients have been infected and Trend Micro Inc. said more than five of its clients were affected.
Authorities have cracked down on virus writers and computer hackers with unusual swiftness and aggressiveness in recent months.
The creator of the Melissa virus, a 30-year-old computer programmer in New Jersey, was arrested just days after the contagion began wreaking havoc on computer systems nationwide. He could face up to 40 years in prison.
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What to Watch
Computer users should be wary of e-mail file attachments--the means by which the latest virus is spread, security experts said. Users should also obtain updated anti-virus software capable of identifying the Worm.ExploreZip virus. The Worm.ExploreZip virus affects only computers that use the Microsoft Windows operating system.
