> Subject: FYI: New "Love Bug Style" virus on the move. > > In case you haven't seen this warning.. > Confirmed as non-hoax on > http://www.norton.com/avcenter/venc/data/vbs.stages.a.html > Andy W. > --- > NEW YORK (AP) -- A new computer virus disguised as a joke about male and > female relationships has hit several large corporations, but security > experts said it was spreading relatively slowly Monday. > The virus does not permanently damage computer files but can clog e-mail > systems. It hit companies in the United States by Friday and began > appearing in Australia and Asia over the weekend, said David Perry of > Trend Micro Inc., a maker of anti-virus software. > The virus was spreading more slowly than the "Love Bug," which crippled > computer systems around the world in a matter of hours when it struck in > early May. > Like Love Bug, the latest virus automatically sends copies to everyone > listed in the Microsoft Outlook program's address book. Both viruses can > also spread through chat rooms. > But unlike Love Bug, the new virus uses a Windows feature called Shell > Scrap Object to activate. The virus carries an ".shs" suffix, but Windows > computers are generally configured to hide the suffix, making the file > appear to contain only text. > The e-mail message contains "funny," "life stages" or "jokes" in the > subject line. The text of the message reads "the male and female stages of > life," with an attachment, "life_stages.txt" or "life_stages.txt.shs." > Anti-virus companies have issued software updates to catch the new virus > and are encouraging businesses to filter incoming mail and delete > attachments with the ".shs" suffix.