First of perhaps many 9/11 viruses emerges
Antivirus researchers late Wednesday discovered what is being described as the first of potentially many "9/11" anniversary viruses spreading on the Internet.
While it's too early to tell what, if any, damage the new virus is causing, Eric Kwon, president and CEO of San Jose-based Hauri Inc., the company that discovered the virus, said its impact seems to be similar to that caused by the recent outbreak of the Sobig worm, which overloaded e-mail servers with large volumes of spam.
The 9/11 virus contains the headline "It's Near 911" or a similar variation, as well as an attachment labeled "911.jpg." Users should not open the e-mail or the attached file.
"Like previous worm viruses, the 9/11 virus collects e-mail lists from Microsoft Outlook in order to spread more rapidly, using the provocative headline about 9/11 to get the unsuspecting user to open the e-mail," said Kwon. "In this case, there also appears to be an intention of causing fear, as well as a possible political motivation."
