In the latest example of computer virus writers capitalizing on current events, a new e-mail worm uses fears about SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) to entice users into opening a file attachment, infecting host machines and helping spread the virus to other machines on the Internet. The worm, W32/Coronex-A (Coronex), is a mass-mailer worm that uses Microsoft Outlook e-mail application to send copies of itself to unsuspecting recipients, according to an alert from antivirus company Sophos. Coronex arrives as an attachment in e-mail messages that carry a variety of subject lines and messages relating to the deadly new respiratory illness that has turned up in Asia, North America, and Europe. Greetings such as “SARS Virus,” “I need your help,” and “deaths virus,” accompany messages containing the virus, according to antivirus software company Symantec. Attachments containing the virus with names like “sars.exe,” “Hongkong.exe,” and “deaths.exe” also play into media reports of the illness, which is concentrated in Asia, Sophos said. Full Story
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