Article Abstract:
A computer software virus that targets Microsoft Outlook e-mail users' address books has been detected. The virus, named VBS/NewLove.A Worm by researchers, escapes detection by varying its file size and taking the name of a recently created document. The virus can be identified, however, by the phrase "FW" found in the subject field and the extention "vbs" for the Visual Basic language that it uses.
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Article Abstract:
Leading Edge Products Inc announces that it accidentally shipped up to 500 computers containing a powerful computer virus known as Michelangelo. The company warns dealers that shipments made between December 10 and December 27, 1991 may be infected. Michelangelo is a virus that is set to activate on Michelangelo's birthday, March 6, at which time it will erase all the contents of a hard disk by replacing files with meaningless, random information. Viruses typically spread from machine to machine through a network configuration or by attaching themselves on to floppy disks and then moving from machine to machine as disks are inserted into floppy drives. Symptoms of a virus include system hangs or crashes and eventually the destruction of software on a hard disk. Leading Edge plans to send customers software that can identify the virus and remove it.
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Researchers developing computer virus-combatting software for IBM argue that the dynamics of inter-computer communication mean the spread of computer viruses is much slower than previously thought. Jeffrey O. Kephart, a physicist whose team developed the software package IBM Antivirus for IBM-compatible microcomputers, says past models of computer virus infection have erroneously assumed that every microcomputer was equally likely to communicate with every other. Kephart believes the uneven patterns of computer distribution and communication imply a much slower rate of infection by rogue programs than that suggested by a Mar 1991 paper written by Certus Symantec Corp Pres Peter Tippet. Certus Symantec also produces anti-virus software. Reinterpreting Tippet's and other data, the IBM researchers found a rate of 38-134 infections per 100,000 microcomputers in 1990. They advocate only equipping a small number of computers in each organization with virus-detection programs and using these sentinel machines to trigger an immediate response to virus outbreaks.
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