Computer virus could render a very unhappy New Year
Source: CNet News
L33tdawg: I think anyone writing viruses of this nature (obviously with the intent to cause damage) should be jailed for a long long time. These writers are bloody annoying and an utter nuisance to society. Furthermore, most times, these viruses are adaptations or variants if you will, and do not show any real technical prowess -- apart from the fact that the virus writer knows how to edit.
NEW YORK, Dec 19 (Reuters) - A newly discovered computer worm, sent under guise of a holiday greeting, has popped up in the United States and Europe and, if activated, could destroy personal computers, experts said on Wednesday.
The Reeezak worm enters a computer as an e-mail message in Microsoft Corp. Outlook with a subject line "Happy New Year" and an attachment -- "Christmas.exe" -- which a recipient may think is a Christmas card.
The worm can disable selective keys on the infected computer's keyboard and delete all the files found in the Windows System Directory, rendering the computer inoperable, said Ian Hameroff, director of antivirus solutions for Computer Associates International Inc. .
Because the worm, a self-propagating virus, sends itself to every e-mail in an address book, recipients are more likely to open the attachment because it appears to come from a recognized source.
"If it were launched in June, many people would be suspicious of it, but since it is the holidays and you may be expecting to receive such greetings from friends and colleagues you may trust this and receive a gift you aren't exactly expecting," Hameroff said.
Hameroff recommends recipients of e-mail messages that come with unsolicited attachments call the sender to verify they sent it before opening the attachment and possibly activating a virus.
