[tri-med] ADMIN: - Virus Alert

I have checked this out and it is legit - for more information go to 
www.mcafee.com
www.symnatec.com or your favourite virus alert site

Experts Warn of Christmas Computer Worm

By Paul Eng ABCNEWS.com 

Computer security experts warn 'Zacker,' a new holiday-themed computer 
virus is winding it's way through the Internet.  

Computer security experts warn a new holiday-themed computer virus is winding 
its 
way through the Internet today. 

The worm, known by several names including W32.Zacker.C and W32.Maldal.C, 
is similar to the recent Goner worm in that it attacks computers that run 
Microsoft's 
Windows operating systems and Microsoft's Outlook e-mail program. 

The new worm arrives in an e-mail with the subject line of "Happy New Year." 
The 
body of the message says: "Hii [sic] I can't describe my feelings. But all i 
[sic] can 
say is Happy New Year :) bye." 

Attached to the e-mail is a file called "Christmas.exe" which contains the 
malicious 
computer programming. When an unsuspecting recipient opens the file, the 
computer displays a holiday greeting showing Santa Claus and a message that 
says: 
"From the heart, Happy new year [sic]!" 

As the PC shows the electronic greeting, security experts say the worm sends 
copies of itself to all the e-mail addresses stored in the now-infected 
computer's 
Outlook program. The worm will then begin to delete files - including any 
anti-virus programs and possibly critical Windows components - from the 
computer's hard drive and install instructions to spread the worm every time 
the 
computer is restarted. 

The worm also appears to spread through instant chat programs such as 
Microsoft's Messenger. 

Will It Ruin Christmas? 

Computer security experts don't yet know who crafted the malicious worm - or 
even if it will reach outbreak proportions of previous worms such as Nimda or 
Code Red. 

Ian Hameroff, director of anti-virus solutions at Computer Associates, says the 
company has rated the threat as a medium- to high-risk threat. "We received 
several reports across Europe where several thousand computers have been 
infected," says Hameroff. 

But April Goosetree of anti-virus maker McAfee.com said the company hasn't 
heard of any massive outbreak of the worm today either. The company rates the 
Zacker worm as a low-level threat. 

Still, experts agree that the worm does have potential to rapidly spread given 
its 
apparently benign holiday greeting. "If this is spreading, it's because of the 
social 
aspect - because the file is named 'Christmas,' " says Jerry Freese, director 
of 
intelligence for Vigilinx, a computer security firm. 

Most anti-virus software makers have already developed and released updates to 
their security programs to detect and remove the new worm. 

Security experts advise users to update their anti-virus programs with these 
latest 
fixes to guard against the new worm. They also stress that suspicious files 
sent by 
e-mail shouldn't be opened without first checking with the sender. 

"People are expecting holiday greetings [via e-mail]," says Computer 
Associates' 
Hameroff. "But this is one holiday gift that you won't like and you definitely 
won't be 
able to return it once it's opened."


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