Mydoom

New computer virus is on the loose. Be careful with your e-mail, people.

...In what computer security experts are calling the biggest virus threat in months, a new computer worm named ``Mydoom'' flooded e-mail systems Monday and clogged computer networks around the world. ...Just hours after discovering the worm Monday afternoon, anti-virus software companies were reporting thousands of infections and were warning that infestation from Mydoom could soon surpass that from the ``SoBig'' worm that plagued computer users in August. ...The worm uses random subject lines that include ``test'' and ``Mail Delivery System'' and carries different text messages, including: ``The message cannot be represented in 7-bit ASCII encoding and has been sent as a binary attachment.'' The attachment names also vary, having ``.exe,'' ``.pif,'' ``.cmd'' or ``.scr'' as extensions. They're often compressed as a Zip file. When the attachment is opened, the worm launches a flood of malicious e-mails to users of Microsoft Windows. A notepad filled with nonsense characters opens when the worm is executed. Mydoom can send out e-mails with spoofed addresses, grabbed from a computer user's address book. Mydoom also is able to make up e-mail sender addresses using valid Internet site names...