FYI....
By Cathryn Conroy
Oops! You might have done it again--gotten a computer virus. The latest PC scourge loose on the Internet is a potentially destructive e-mail worm that teases you with hot pics of Britney Spears. Click to download it, and you won't have Britney pictures, but your PC will have the VBS/Britney-A virus (which is also called the VBS_BRITNEYPIC.A). Here's the good news: It's still in a low-risk category, but computer experts are concerned that the tease of Britney pics could be strong enough to make it infect more computers.
The worm's attachment--the one that is masquerading as a picture of the 20-year-old pop tart, is labeled .CHM. That is not an extension for a photo, which may tip off alert computer users that it's a hoax. Reuters reports that the Britney bug spreads via Microsoft's Outlook e-mail program as well as Internet Relay Chat channels on the Internet. (Remember, you don't have to use these programs to receive the virus.) Like the earlier Anna Kournikova virus, the Britney virus could overload computer servers and slow Internet traffic. "Because this says 'Britney Spears' we thought this may have potential to spread," Natasha Staley, a spokeswoman for British computer security firm Sophos Anti-Virus, told Reuters. The bug was first discovered in Europe on Thursday.
By Cathryn Conroy
Oops! You might have done it again--gotten a computer virus. The latest PC scourge loose on the Internet is a potentially destructive e-mail worm that teases you with hot pics of Britney Spears. Click to download it, and you won't have Britney pictures, but your PC will have the VBS/Britney-A virus (which is also called the VBS_BRITNEYPIC.A). Here's the good news: It's still in a low-risk category, but computer experts are concerned that the tease of Britney pics could be strong enough to make it infect more computers.
The worm's attachment--the one that is masquerading as a picture of the 20-year-old pop tart, is labeled .CHM. That is not an extension for a photo, which may tip off alert computer users that it's a hoax. Reuters reports that the Britney bug spreads via Microsoft's Outlook e-mail program as well as Internet Relay Chat channels on the Internet. (Remember, you don't have to use these programs to receive the virus.) Like the earlier Anna Kournikova virus, the Britney virus could overload computer servers and slow Internet traffic. "Because this says 'Britney Spears' we thought this may have potential to spread," Natasha Staley, a spokeswoman for British computer security firm Sophos Anti-Virus, told Reuters. The bug was first discovered in Europe on Thursday.
