E-mail worm exploits Sept 11 - News - Security

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This story was printed from ZDNet Australia.
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E-mail worm exploits Sept 11

By Margaret Kane, Special to ZDNet
September 12, 2002
URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/security/soa/E-mail-worm-exploits-Sept-11/0,130061744,120268149,00.htm

An e-mail claiming to have information about the September 11 attacks on the US releases a mass mailing worm.

A new e-mail worm has surfaced that uses the terror attacks of 11 September to lure victims, antivirus groups say.

The worm has the subject line "All people" and appears to be from "main@world.com". It has an attachment titled "11September.exe". According to antivirus company McAfee.com, the worm starts a mass mailing to all people found in Microsoft's Windows and Outlook address books.

The worm is believed to have originated in Russia. But according to McAfee, the programming is buggy and it fails to work on many systems. The company classified the worm as a low-level threat.

Antivirus software maker Symantec said that fewer than 50 infections had been reported as of Tuesday night.

The text of the message claims the attachment has photographs that offer new evidence of the events of 11 September and claims that "America and England have begun bombardment of Iraq".

"This seems to be a poor attempt from a wannabe virus writer to exploit the commemoration of 11 September," Mikko Hypponen, manager of antivirus research at F-Secure, said in a statement. "However, as the worm seems to crash regularly, it won't go far."

This is not the first time virus writers have tried to exploit the terror attacks. A worm was launched weeks after the attacks last year that claimed to be a message of peace.