COMPUTER technicians in Cyprus are not sure what to expect from the latest virus to hit internet users.
The Marketing Manager of Spidernet, Thois Themistocleous, told the Cyprus Mail yesterday they had had a few cases of the virus, but that customers had been informed about it though an e-mail and been given instructions on how to delete it.
“We are not sure yet exactly what it does. We know that it sends itself out to all the e-mail addresses stored on the user’s hard drive. We are researching to find out if it does anything else,” said Themistocleous.
A local computer technician said there was a possibility the virus might contain a Trojan or back door that could leave computers vulnerable to hackers.
“We’ve seen a few cases of it, but it doesn’t seem to be anything serious. However, if big companies are hit and they are left vulnerable, it could be very dangerous,” said the source.
The subject line of the e-mail is ‘new photos from my party!’ and the body of the e-mail contains ‘ Hello! My party… It was absolutely amazing! I have attached my web page with new photos! If you can please make color prints of my photos. Thanks!’
The e-mail has an attachment that contains the virus called ‘www.myparty.yahoo.com’, which may trick users into thinking they will be taken to a Yahoo website.
But the attachment is in fact an executable file with a ‘.com’ extension, not a URL, and running this attachment infects the local machine and sends itself out to all addresses found in the Windows Address Book.
In addition, the worm sends a message to the author so the author can track the worm.
On Windows NT, 2000 or XP systems, the worm drops a backdoor Trojan that allows a hacker to control your system, which can be detected as Backdoor.Myparty.
Computer experts recommend users install anti virus software and keep them updated as the majority of them have an antidote to most viruses within a few hours of an outbreak.
For more information and instructions for its removal go to http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/[email protected]
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
