A chameleon-like variant of the Love Bug hit the Net running out of and across the United States early May 19 and is being considered slightly more destructive than the fast-and-widespread Philippine-created bug which attacked photo and music files in a round-the-world spree two weeks ago. nrnCalled VBS.LoveLetter.FW.A - or, simply, the Love Letter - this virus changes itself to duck detection, can rename files on personal computers and networks alike, and hits Windows 95, 98, NT, and 2000. And it makes any files it hits unusable unless you've backed them up. nrnThis is all cyberspace needed after the world was barely recovered from the Love Bug, computer security experts lamented. nrnVirus software company Trend Mirco says the Love Letter was reported in isolated incidents around the U.S., Israel, and Europe, though it isn't moving even close to the speed at which the Love Bug flew. But it does grow in size as it moves along from computer to computer and could clog networks with thick e-mail traffic. nrnLike the Love Bug, it spreads by way of Microsoft Outlook e-mails, with "FW: (attached file name)" in the subject line along with the attachment listed, going from computer to computer, randomly choosing opened files from the start and documents folders in the Microsoft start menu and attaching it to the e-mail as a .vbs (visual basic scripting) file - and mutating itself at each spread to duck detection. And, once it's opened, the virus overwrites files and leaves your computer all but inoperable. nrnSecurity experts advise e-mail attachments with .vbs extensions be deleted immediately, unopened. nrnSymantec, which manufactures the Norton anti-virus suite, classified the Love Letter as a category four - dangerous, difficult to contain.
All models were at least 18 years old at the time of their performance. 18 U.S.C. 2257 Record-Keeping Requirements Compliance Statement.
