A new computer virus that offers hackers full control of infected PCs, giving them access to critical information such as passwords and credit-card numbers, was spreading on the internet on Thursday. The virus, dubbed “BugBear.B” by virus experts, follows two other quickly spreading e-mail viruses seen in recent weeks — “Sobig.B” and “Sobig.C” — but far exceeds them in its ability to do harm and in the aggressiveness of its spread. E-mail filtering services company MessageLabs Inc. had blocked 37 400 copies of BugBear.B from 125 countries by midday on Thursday, after barely registering a blip on Wednesday, when the first copies were seen. Network Associates Incorporated. said it had received 100 infection reports from corporate and consumer customers as of Thursday morning. Its rival, Symantec Corporation, said it received 180 infection reports from consumers and 51 from corporate customers. All it takes is one e-mailed copy of the virus entering a corporate network for havoc to ensue. Once inside, BugBear.B will spread throughout a network. Full Story
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