Viruses attack Russia

Computer worm W32/MyDoom, or Novarg infected more then 500 000 computers

An attack of the Internet worm W32/MyDoom or Novarg has turned into a real epidemic. In the world of viruses more than 500 000 computers have been infected. 300 000 of them have been infected in Russia alone. Every tenth computer has been infected in Ukraine.

“The Kaspersky Lab” assumes that the Novarg virus has been created especially for Russia. In the meantime, none of the existing antivirus computer programs is capable to fight the worm, reports RBC.

“A total amount of Internet correspondence has significantly risen. This in turn leads to major mass communication malfunction. The problem arises as a result of channel overloading. As a result, mail posts are simply being shutdown while being unable to 'digest' an overwhelming amount of information,” said Director of the Communication Department of “The Kaspersky Lab” Denis Zenkin.

In the meantime, a reward in the sum of $250 000 has been offered for the actual developer of the W32/MyDoom or Novarg virus.

According to specialists, starting from February 1, the virus will attack those sites of the SCO Group company, the one that possesses a copyright for UNIX. The company publicly announced that it will sue those corporations which use Linux.
Starting from February 1 through February 12, all infected computers will forward special requests to the site. This in turn may lead to a complete shutdown of the site.

SCO Group has already announced that the company along with the FBI attempts to locate the author of the destructive virus. The company offers a $250 000 reward for any information that may lead to his arrest.

W32/MyDoom or Novarg

According to experts, Novarg is one of the most dangerous viruses that exist in the Net today.

The worm hides in e-mails where the actual subject along with the sender of the message is being generated randomly. The actual e-mail contains the following text, “The message cannot be viewed in 7-bit ASCII format, and has been sent as a binary attachment.”

The virus also spreads through the KaZaA site.

Once the virus gets into the system, it activates “Notepad” program and starts depicting random symbols. In addition, the virus installs a special module into the system thus enabling evildoers to mail spam along with other viruses.

Source: NewsRu