[Fair Use: For Education and Research Purpose Only]

THURSDAY, 04 MAY, 2000 Title: 'LOVE BUG' CAUSES COMPUTER CHAOS

Computer chaos ... the Love Bug email has devastated systems worldwide

By SUN ONLINE REPORTER

THOUSANDS of businesses worldwide have been hit by a devastating computer virus, known as the "love letter" bug.

The virus, which is spread by an email message called "I Love You" has infected about ten per cent of UK businesses.

The virus, which is thought to have started in Hong Kong, is spread by opening the email.

Users receive a message reading "Kindly check the attached love letter from me!" with a file attached titled "LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU".

When the file is opened a program runs which automatically copies the email to all the people in the users address book.

It then downloads a file from the Internet to keep the computer tied up.

Servers accross the country have been unable to cope with the sudden extra demand for downloading from the Internet, causing computer networks to crash.

Sarah Perkins, a spokeswoman for PC Pro magazine, said: "The virus sends itself to everyone in your email address book, and then to everyone in their address books too.

All systems stop ... networks have been infected across the country

"It completely wipes out your network. Ours is down and were going to lose a days business."

Another expert said the virus began spreading "like wild fire" at about 11.30am this morning. He added: "Its taking out computers left, right and centre."

Software experts were today battling to beat the virus which was disabling networks across the country.

Billy Stent, a spokesman for Network Associates, which produces virus-busting software, said engineers at the companys Oxford laboratories were working on an antidote for the virus. They hope to have it ready later today.

"They are pulling out all the stops to find a cure. It wont take them long once they identify a weakness.

"In the meantime, the virus seems to be wreaking havoc across the country. It has hit a number of big companies and popular web sites. The extent of it is unknown, but is spreading every moment.

Last year email users were hit by the "Melissa" virus, which caused similar problems accross the country.

Has your business been hit? If so, let us know by ringing 020 7782 4347

http://www.the-sun.co.uk/news/6927102

====================

-- (Dee360Degree@aol.com), May 04, 2000

Answers

Nando Times

'Love bug' gums up Asian, European business computers

The Associated Press

HONG KONG (May 4, 2000 9:09 a.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com)

A computer virus spread by e-mail messages titled "ILOVEYOU" infected Asian and European computers Thursday, hitting public relations firms and investment banks particularly hard.

The virus appeared in Hong Kong late in the afternoon, spreading throughout e-mail systems once a user opened one of the contaminated messages.

Nomura International (HK) Ltd. in Hong Kong was affected, an analyst there said, as was Nomura's London office. In Asia, Dow Jones Newswires and the Asian Wall Street Journal were among the victims.

"It crashed all the computers," said Daphne Ghesquiere, a Dow Jones spokeswoman in Hong Kong. "You get the message and the topic says ILOVEYOU, and I was among the stupid ones to open it. I got about five at one time and I was suspicious, but one was from Dow Jones Newswires, so I opened it."

Once the message was opened, Ghesquiere said, it began sending the virus to other e-mail addresses within the Dow Jones computers, blocking people's ability to send and receive e-mail. Victims sometimes received dozens of e-mails, all contaminated.

"I have no idea how it got through the firewall," Ghesquiere said. "It's supposed to be protected."

The virus was spreading in Europe as well. In Denmark, the parliament, telecom company Tele Danmark, channel TV2 and the Environment and Energy Ministry were all affected starting Thursday morning.

"We have no clue how it got in," said Hugo Praestegaard of the Environment and Energy Ministry.

Credit Suisse First Boston issued a global e-mail memo warning employees not to open the messages, said company official Tom Grimmer in Hong Kong. He said the virus had not infiltrated the investment bank's computer system.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), May 04, 2000.

Canoe

Computer bug spreads By BRUCE MEYERSON -- Associated Press

A new computer virus spread quickly around the world today, swamping U.S. corporate networks with e-mails entitled "ILOVEYOU" after crippling government and business computers in Asia and Europe.

Experts said they were stunned by the speed and wide reach of the virus--which struck members of U.S. Congress and British parliament -- and warned computer users not to open the "LOVELETTER" attachment that comes with the contaminated e-mail.

"It appears to be the same sort of class of virus as Melissa," the e-mail virus that crippled computer systems around the world about a year ago, said Bill Pollack, spokesman for the CERT Coordination Center in Pittsburgh, a government-chartered computer security team. But, Pollack cautioned, "there are other ways that it spreads in addition to e-mail and that's what we're looking into now."

According to a virus tracking system at the Web site of the Trend Micro computer security firm, more than 120,000 computer files were said to be infected in the United States by midmorning EDT, up from fewer than 20,000 just an hour before.

In Britain, about 30 percent of company e-mail systems were brought down by the virus, according to Network Associates, another computer security firm. In Sweden, the tally was 80 percent.

Much like Melissa, the "love bug" spreads by infiltrating a computer user's address book and sending copies of itself to that person's contacts. However, the new virus also seemed to be using instant messaging or "Internet chat" systems such as ICQ to spread, Computer Associates reported.

The virus appeared in Hong Kong late in the afternoon, spreading throughout e-mail systems once a user opened one of the contaminated messages. It later moved into European parliamentary houses and through the high-tech systems of big companies and financial traders.

"I have to tell you that, sadly, this affectionate greeting contains a virus which has immobilized the House's internal communication system," said Margaret Beckett, leader of Britain's House of Commons. "This means that no member can receive e-mails from outside, nor indeed can we communicate with each other by e-mail."

In the United States, the "love bug" shut down the Florida Lottery Web site and e-mail system, said lottery spokesman Leo DiBenigno.

In Asia, Dow Jones Newswires and the Asian Wall Street Journal were among the victims. The bug affected only e-mail and did not prevent Dow Jones Newswires from distributing financial information to traders. The Asian Wall Street Journal would have no problems publishing, officials there said.

(snip)

The virus posed its biggest threat to corporate users, because it apparently had the ability to spread to the first 300 e-mail addresses in affected accounts, virus expert Ross Wilson said.

"It's not pretty," said Wilson, the Singapore-based Southeast Asia director of Symantec, a U.S.-based company that makes anti-virus software. "It's got the capability of spreading very, very quickly."

In Denmark, the parliament, telecom company Tele Danmark, channel TV2 and the Environment and Energy Ministry were all affected starting this morning.

"We have no clue how it got in," said Hugo Praestegaard of the Environment and Energy Ministry.

The virus hit the Swiss federal government computer network late in the morning, said Claudio Frigerio of the Federal Office for Information Technology in Bern. The system was switched off immediately to stop the virus from spreading.

Bank, hospital and national television e-mail networks in Switzerland were also affected, Frigerio said.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), May 04, 2000.

The BBC's Rory Cellan-Jones "As the electronic chain letter gathers pace it generates enormous amounts of traffic" real 28k

US State Department Spokesman, Richard Boucher "It did not get in to the classified system" real 28k

Thursday, 4 May, 2000, 19:28 GMT 20:28 UK 'Love' virus chaos spreads

A computer virus spread by e-mail messages titled "ILOVEYOU" is causing havoc in the United States after crippling government and business computers in Asia and Europe. Among the organisations affected have been the American State Department and the CIA, and major companies like Ford and Time- Warner.

The virus, dubbed the "Love Bug", first appeared in Hong Kong in the late afternoon, and spread through e-mail systems after a user opened one of the contaminated messages.

An estimated $100 million in damage has been caused in the US, the most computer dependent country in the world.

Tackling the virus If the email appears in your inbox: Do not open it Delete it using shift del As with all e-mails, if in doubt do not run any attachments you are not expecting If you have run the attachment, log out of your machine, switch it off and phone your help desk or seek expert advice

As offices began opening in the US, one computer security firm, Trend Micro, reported that the number of computers affected rose from 20,000 to 120,000 in the space of an hour.

Some 550,000 computers have been hit by the virus worldwide and, of those, more than 80% were in North America.

The "Love Bug" e-mail appeared on computer screens in both houses of Congress in Washington and at the Pentagon.

The White House, Congress, the FBI, and the Pentagon, were all affected.

The State Department was forced to disconnect its computer systems from the internet, according to a spokesman.

US companies were likewise forced to take their e-mail systems off- line to isolate the spread of the virus and it was blamed for shutting down the web site, the state lottery in Florida.

The FBI is reported to have begun investigating to determine the origin of the virus, which reports suggest may have started in the Philippines capital, Manila.

Europe hit

Europe was hard hit, with the UK House of Commons, the Danish parliament and the Swiss federal government computer networks, along with many banks and other companies among the victims.

"I have to tell you that, sadly, this affectionate greeting contains a virus which has immobilized the House's internal communication system," said British opposition Conservative Party spokesman, Sir George Young.

"This means that no member can receive e-mails from outside, nor indeed can we communicate with each other by e-mail."

About 10% of businesses around the UK are believed to have been affected.

Computer experts advise people using Microsoft Windows who receive the e-mail not to open it, but to shift-delete it immediately.

If the message is opened, users should on no account open the attachment that comes with it.

It crashed all the computers Dow Jones, Hong Kong

If the attachment is opened, experts advise users to log off, switch off the computer, and contact their help desk.

Any one who opens the attachment triggers the virus, which automatically copies the same e-mail to everyone on the users address book.

The result is that systems are overloaded by the sheer volume of internet traffic, forcing them to crash or be closed down.

'Wild' e-mails

In Asia, Dow Jones Newswires and the Asian Wall Street Journal were among the victims. Most common viruses 1 Laroux (XM) 2 Ethan (WM97) 3 Marker (WM97) 4 Class (WM97) 5 Ska-Happy99 (WM32) 6 Footer (WM97) 7 Melissa (WM97) 8 Chernobyl (W95) 9 Form 10 ExploreZip(W32)

The bug did not prevent Dow Jones Newswires from distributing financial information to traders, and the Asian Wall Street Journal said it would have no problems publishing.

But the e-mail systems went wild.

"It crashed all the computers," said Daphne Ghesquiere, a Dow Jones spokeswoman in Hong Kong.

"You get the message and the topic says ILOVEYOU, and I was among the stupid ones to open it. I got about five at one time and I was suspicious, but one was from Dow Jones Newswires, so I opened it."

The "Love Bug": tempting to open

Victims sometimes received dozens of e-mails, all contaminated.

"I have no idea how it got through the firewall," Ms Ghesquiere said. "It's supposed to be protected."

The virus, identified as a "worm", spreads in the same way as the Melissa virus, which last year infected about one million computers, clogging whole networks in the United States and causing $80 million in damage.

Virus technologists at MessageLabs said that, while Melissa generated 200 copies of the virus in its first day, the "love bug" managed to infect 1,200 people in the first three hours.

"The virus has used every possible way to spread itself," said a Messagelabs spokesman.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_736000/736208.stm

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), May 04, 2000.