Monday, June 14, 1999
'Worm' still eating computer data
Virus has struck at major firms
BY BRUCE MEYERSON
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — After a weekend of scouring their computers for the latest e-mail virus to bombard the Internet, systems managers are bracing for a new work week and the threat of new infections when workers log on.
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HOW TO AVOID IT
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The Worm.Explore.Zip virus is transmitted via e-mail and ruins files on infected computers. It appears to come from a friend or acquaintance and reads: “Hi (your name)! I received your e-mail and I shall send you a reply ASAP. Till then, take a look at the attached zipped docs.”
• The message is harmless unless you open the file attached to the e-mail. Use caution in opening any attached file, and report suspicious messages to your e-mail provider.
• If your computer is infected, repairs are available from several online sites. For example, the Symantec AntiVirus Research Center has a program to remove the virus. More information is available at: http://www.sarc.com/avcenter/. —The Associated Press
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The Worm.Explore.Zip virus, which is transmitted via e-mail and ruins files on infect ed computers, has struck tens of thousands of machines, but so far hasn't spread as widely as the Melissa virus that hit in late March.
Nervous workplace
But fears remained Sunday that the outbreak may have fallen dormant over the weekend with most people not working, and could start spreading again today when employees turn on their computers.
Anti-virus experts said there are scattered reports of new symptoms being detected among infected machines. That's a sign the bug may be more complex than first thought, said Mark Zajicek, a member of the Computer Emergency Response Team at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation was trying to track down the author of the virus, but the agency declined to pro vide any updates on the probe over the weekend. It took only days earlier this spring for authorities to trace the digital footprints of Melissa and the Chernobyl virus that struck in late April.
The virus, first detected June 6 in Israel, did most of its damage on Thursday and Friday, infecting computer systems at several big corporations including AT&T, Boeing, General Electric and even Microsoft.
Insidious invader
Nervous calls to computer support lines dropped off sharply this weekend after two frenzied days of combat against the bug, which uses guile like Melissa to spread and then inflicts a Chernobyl-like attack on individual machines.
Worm.Explore.Zip targets computers using Microsoft Windows operating systems.
The virus arrives in a person's e-mail box as a timely reply from an acquaintance, inviting the recipient to open an attached file that will unleash a two-pronged attack: It spreads by sending a copy of itself to the address of any arriving e-mail and destroys files stored on a person's machine, including those created by the popular programs Microsoft Word and Excel.
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