FW: IMPORTANT: Virus Warning (from Northrop Grumman)

["Burke, Thomas G." <thomas_g_burke md northgrum com>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	EMail Services (ESSS) 
> Sent:	Friday, May 19, 2000 9:17 AM
> Subject:	IMPORTANT: Virus Warning (from Northrop Grumman)
> Importance:	High
> 
> A new variant of the LOVELETTER (ILOVEYOU) virus called NEWLOVE has been
> discovered on the Internet.  A description follows.  Northrop Grumman has
> put the necessary virus pattern files in place to catch this virus in
> email.  The ISP desktop machines still have Visual Basic disabled as a
> result of the LOVELETTER virus so there is little chance that you will
> infect your machine.  To be absolutely sure DO NOT open any attachments
> that are not business related or are from unfamiliar sources. This virus
> is more destructive than the last and will necessitate a reinstall of your
> machine.   Any questions or problems should be directed to the Customer
> Support Center at 800-272-6022 Option 5 then 2.
> VBS_NEWLOVE.A is a new Visual Basic Script worm with a very damaging
> payload. Once executed, this virus tries to spam itself to all users in
> the Microsoft Outlook address book. VBS_NEWLOVE is also polymorphic, since
> it changes its code with every new infection. New lines of random code are
> added every time the virus tries to spread itself. Therefore, this virus
> keeps increasing in size. The first sample received by Trend Micro was
> around 400 KB, which can cause a mail server to slow down and eventually
> crash. This virus was obviously inspired by the success of VBS_LOVELETTER
> but has behaves differently. VBS_NEWLOVE.A does not use the same filename
> -- outgoing messages can have a different Subject line and different file
> attachments. It is very destructive, since it goes through all directories
> and replaces all files with files that are zero bytes in length. Due to
> this Windows does not function properly and will not start upon reboot. 
>