Party worm crashed out in Australia

An e-mail virus first spotted in Asia and which has infected computers in more than 50 countries flaked out here before the party got going over Australia's long weekend.

Dubbed "My Party", W32.MyParty@MM or W32/MyParty-A arrives as an e-mail with the subject line "new photos from my party!" Masquerading as a link to a Web site, www.myparty.yahoo.com, the worm replicates itself to everyone in the Windows address book, used by Outlook and Outlook Express when the link is clicked upon.

Sophos Australia said it had received reports of a number of worldwide infections, but -more like dozens rather than hundreds" and only a handful coming out of Asia-Pacific.

"I'd steeled myself for a significant number of reports," Paul Duckin, head of global support at Sophos Australia told ZDNet Australia, but -it shows users' increased reticence to believe the garbage they receive by e-mail," he added.

According to Duckin, the innocuous looking www.myparty.yahoo.com file attachment was -quite an interesting trick" and people would have been -more forgiven for clicking on it". However, in part due to the Australia Day long weekend and also the fact that people are wising up to e-mail worms the virus lost its fizz locally.

The worm, which is programmed to infect computers from January 25 to January 29, should be partied out by the end of the day.

Sophos has devised a patch at http:/www.sophos.com/virusinfo/analyses/w32mypartya.html.

Advertisement

Talkback 1 comments

    Glad to see people are wising ...Morris Otte -- 29/01/02

    Glad to see people are wising up about viruses and worms. I hope they continue to do so.

Latest Videos

Sponsored content

Power Centre - Content from our premier sponsors

Blogs

  • Suzanne Tindal IT: Govt's cost-cutting bitch
    The government needs to stop looking at IT as a necessary evil or the place to remove costs when the Treasurer comes calling.
  • Array Can complaints on mobile content be cut?
    On 1 July this year the new Mobile Premium Services Code was introduced. It sounds like it's had a good impact, but is it enough?
  • Array NZ farmers: Bleating about broadband
    As we know, farmers are such bleaters. They bleat as much as the four-legged woolly things in their paddocks. If it's not the weather, it's the strength of the dollar! Nothing is ever right. Likewise with rural broadband.
  • More blogs »

Tags

Back to top

Featured