SUNNYVALE, Calif., March 22 /PRNewswire/ -- McAfee.com (NASDAQ:MCAF) today announced it was tracking reports of the W32/MyLife.b@MM or "MyLife" email worm. The recently discovered email worm is distributed as an attachment via email to Microsoft Outlook users using their address books. A line of text in the email reads "No Viruse Found" [sic] and "MCAFEE.COM" to apparently indicate that the attachment is safe to open and has been scanned for viruses. When a user activates the file attachment, the worm changes computer system files and emails duplicate copies to other email users. This virus can also delete Windows system files from infected users' hard drives.
McAfee.com anti-virus experts say the worm may also slow down computer users' email and Internet connections. AVERT (Anti-Virus Emergency Response Team) has assessed this virus as Medium Risk. McAfee.com is providing updated anti-virus protection for its 1.35 million users.
The "MyLife" email worm is an example of a "social engineering" virus. Social engineering viruses rely on sensational subject lines or interesting attachments. In this case the subject line reads "bill caricature" and the attachment file, cari.scr, displays a humorous illustration of former president Bill Clinton playing a saxophone. The subject and apparently innocuous illustration in the email attachment may cause this worm to spread more readily.
McAfee.com anti-virus experts are monitoring the progress of this virus.
How It Works
This mass-mailing worm, written in Visual Basic 6, uses Microsoft Outlook to send itself to all addresses in the Outlook Address book. It arrives in an email containing the following information:
Subject: bill caricature
Body:Hiiiii
How are youuuuuuuu?
look to bill caricature it's vvvery verrrry ffffunny :-) :-)
i promise you will love it? ok
buy========No Viruse Found========
MCAFEE.COMAttachment: cari.scr
McAfee.com anti-virus experts recommend that computer users update their anti-virus applications and services frequently to prevent infection from the "MyLife" worm and other digital threats. More information about the "MyLife" virus is available at: http://vil.mcafee.com/dispVirus.asp?virus_k=99414.
McAfee.com anti-virus experts are available to comment on the "MyLife" worm and other recent virus outbreaks, such as Britney, MyParty, Goner and SirCam.
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