New computer virus set to hit Tuesday

February 2, 2004

By RAY LANE / KING 5 News

REDMOND, Wash. - Another potentially troublesome Internet virus is preparing to take aim at Microsoft. It's called "MyDoom.B" and the anticipated attack is set to strike sometime Tuesday.

Microsoft is going so far to call this latest worm a criminal attack.

"The Department of Homeland Security also issued its first ever official alert as part of their new cyber alert system that they have so there's no question that this is a serious thing," said Microsoft spokesman Lou Gellos.

The MyDoom.B virus begins as a seemingly innocent e-mail that looks like an error message. It might even appear to come from someone you know.

Clicking on the e-mail's attachment causes the virus to worm its way through your hard drive, searching for stored e-mail addresses in order to keep sending itself out.

It then opens an electronic back door on your computer, allowing a hacker to return over the Internet later on to steal your personal information.

"It's a little bit like somebody breaking into the front door of your house. You come in seeing that your front door lock has been open, but you don't notice that the person on the way out left a window open in the basement, allowing them to come back a week later without you realizing it," said Stephen Trilling of Symantec Corp.

The MyDoom.B virus is designed to target Microsoft's Web site, potentially flooding it with messages.

Microsoft says it's ready, though the company will not say what precautions are being taken behind the scenes.

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Ray Lane reports
"We deal with these kind of things all the time. You hear about it when they rise to the level that this one has. Our technicians are pretty savvy with what these things are, and we're doing everything we can to make sure things are okay for the computer user," said Gellos.

This virus has already attacked and caused big problems for a computer company based in Utah.

The best advice to protect your system: Do not open attachments that you're uncertain of, and update your anti-virus software.