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--></style><title>Fwd: VIRUS WARNING: New 'War Vote' Virus Deletes
Compu</title></head><body>
<div><tt>Monday September 24 3:10 PM ET</tt><br>
<tt></tt></div>
<div><tt>New 'War Vote' Virus Deletes Computer Files<br>
<br>
</tt><a
href=
"http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010924/tc/tech_votevirus_dc_1.html"
><tt
>http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010924/tc/tech_votevirus_dc_1.html</tt
></a><tt><br>
<br>
By Elinor Mills Abreu<br>
<br>
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Security experts on Monday warned of a<br>
brand new virus masquerading as a program that will allow people
to<br>
vote whether the United States should go to war over the deadly
Sept.<br>
11 hijacker attacks, but which deletes computer files instead.<br>
<br>
The ``Vote Virus'' is spreading via e-mail to users of
Microsoft<br>
Corp.'s (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) Outlook e-mail program, said Simon<br>
Perry, vice president of security solutions at Computer
Associates<br>
International Inc. (NYSE:CA - news)<br>
<br>
The virus appears with the subject line: ``Peace between
America and<br>
Islam!'' and the body of the e-mail reads: ``Hi. Is it a war
against<br>
America or Islam!? Let's vote to live in peace!'' Perry said.<br>
<br>
When the attachment entitled ``WTC.exe'' is opened, the
virus<br>
deletes all the files on the computer's hard drive and sends
copies<br>
of the e-mail to every address listed in the computer's address
book,<br>
he said.<br>
<br>
The virus also defaces any Web pages that are hosted by an
infected<br>
computer to read: ``America ... few days will show you what we
can<br>
do!!! It's our turn ))) Zaker is so sorry for you.''<br>
<br>
The virus is believed to be the work of an opportunist and
not<br>
associated with the Sept. 11 jetliner attacks on the World Trade<br>
Center and Pentagon (news - web sites) in which more than 6,000<br>
people are believed to be dead or missing.<br>
<br>
``There is no evidence that this is related to the people
who<br>
carried out'' the attacks, Perry said.<br>
<br>
``We feel this is likely to get quite a high pickup in that a
lot of<br>
people are going to click on this,'' he said. ``If the news about<br>
this doesn't get out before people get their e-mails, they're
at<br>
risk.''<br>
<br>
SICK SENSE OF HUMOR<br>
<br>
Perry said he expects there will be more socially engineered
viruses<br>
created in the future that will take advantage of people's
interest<br>
in the attacks and the subsequent political and military<br>
repercussions.<br>
<br>
``What this is a sick sense of humor,'' Perry said. ``Chances
are<br>
this is not any kind of cyber-terrorism. It's just cyber terror.''<br>
<br>
As many as 10 large corporate customers of Computer Associates
have</tt></div>
<div><tt>been infected since the virus first appeared Monday
morning, Perry</tt></div>
<div><tt>said. Researchers do not know where it originated from but it
has not</tt></div>
<div><tt>yet hit Europe and Asia, he said.<br>
<br>
Computer Associates is working on software that will enable
its<br>
Innoculate anti-virus software to detect the new virus and prevent<br>
it from infecting a computer, Perry said.</tt></div>
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