A virus that is scheduled to begin deleting files on Friday from infected Windows computers is unlikely to result in widespread damage, security vendors said, although some businesses reported being affected.F-Secure has been in contact with one large U.S. company that had “tens of thousands of infected computers,” said Mikko Hyppönen, F-Secure’s chief research officer.The company, which Hyppönen declined to identify but said was not an F-Secure customer, had been working to cleanse the machines. It may keep its computers switched off Friday as a precaution until it can be sure they are virus-free.</nolayer></td></tr></tbody></table><p>There had been no reports early Friday of data being wiped out, although anti-virus vendors said it may take a few days for problems to emerge, especially for consumers, who are less likely to notice damage right away. The virus has several names, including Blackdoom, Nyxem, Kama Sutra and Mywife. It was detected in mid-January.</p><p>Anti-virus vendors have been updating their software to protect and cleanse machines of the destructive code, said David Emm, senior technology consultant at Kaspersky Lab. The malware contains code that will overwrite most files on a computer on the third day of each month, replacing them with error messages.</p><p>Computers become infected if a user opens a Program Information File (PIF) attachment contained in an e-mail. In addition to dropping the destructive code on a computer, the worm harvests e-mail addresses and sends itself out again. The e-mails often uses the promise of pornography to lure users into opening the attachment, a relatively dated method.</p><p>Up to 300,000 machines may be infected worldwide, with concentrations in India, Turkey, Mexico, Peru and Australia, according to anti-virus vendors. The spread of e-mail worms is fairly random, Hyppönen said.</p><p>Those countries may be affected the most if the worm happened to find computers with big lists of e-mail addresses in those countries to mail itself out to, Hypponen said.</p><p>India appeared to have been infected the most as of Friday morning, with the virus emanating from around 4,000 IP addresses in that country, said Alex Shipp of MessageLabs. About 1,000 IP addresses were affected in the U.S., and 102 in the U.K., he said.</p><p>It may take a few days for the “sob stories” to emerge from hapless users, Shipp said.</p><p>The number of attacks against customers of SecureWorks has doubled since Tuesday, to 939, the company said. It reported the most activity in India, Australia and the U.S.</p><p>Machines protected by anti-virus software could still be vulnerable since other malware, such as the Bagle virus, can shut off those programs, Hyppönen noted.</p><p>Publicity surrounding the worm may have made users more careful about protecting their computers. A chain of computer stores in the U.K. was warning users of the worm on its call-in number.</p><p>”At the moment, we are not sure of the impact of it,” said Omar Qureshi, who works on the PC Service team for PC World stores. It may be three or four days before reports of problems trickle in, he said.</p></div></article> Related content news Broadcom to lay off over 1,200 VMware employees as deal closes The closing of VMware’s $69 billion acquisition by Broadcom will lead to layoffs, with 1,267 VMware workers set to lose their jobs at the start of the new year. By Jon Gold Dec 01, 2023 3 mins Technology Industry Mergers and Acquisitions news analysis Cisco joins $10M funding round for Aviz Networks' enterprise SONiC drive Investment news follows a partnership between the vendors aimed at delivering an enterprise-grade SONiC offering for customers interested in the open-source network operating system. By Michael Cooney Dec 01, 2023 3 mins Network Management Software Network Management Software Network Management Software news Cisco CCNA and AWS cloud networking rank among highest paying IT certifications Cloud expertise and security know-how remain critical in building today’s networks, and these skills pay top dollar, according to Skillsoft’s annual ranking of the most valuable IT certifications. Demand for talent continues to outweigh s By Denise Dubie Nov 30, 2023 7 mins Certifications Certifications Certifications news Mainframe modernization gets a boost from Kyndryl, AWS collaboration Kyndryl and AWS have expanded their partnership to help enterprise customers simplify and accelerate their mainframe modernization initiatives. By Michael Cooney Nov 30, 2023 4 mins Mainframes Cloud Computing Data Center Podcasts Videos Resources Events NEWSLETTERS Newsletter Promo Module Test Description for newsletter promo module. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe