-Caveat Lector- Sunday March 28 12:28 PM ET Warning Issued For Fast-Spreading Computer Virus NEW YORK (Reuters) - A new fast-spreading computer virus could spread havoc Monday after already forcing several large U.S. corporations to shut down their e-mail systems, the New York Times reported Sunday. The virus, which is named Melissa and is spread by e-mail, may have infected tens of thousands of home and business computers Friday, the Times reported quoting network security companies. The virus replicates itself by going into the address book of the computer's user and e-mailing itself to 50 addresses -- eventually overloading network systems to the point where they must be shut down. It does not appear to harm or disable the computers, the experts told the Times. E-mail infected with the virus has a topic line which begins ``important message from'' followed by the name of the person whose computer address book inadvertently provided the recipient's e-mail address. That is followed by the seemingly innocuous message: ``Here is that document you asked for ... don't show it to anyone else''. A massive 40K document called list.doc is attached, the paper said. While opening the e-mail is harmless, opening the attachment unleashes the virus. It seeks out 50 addresses in the recipient's address book, sends itself off, and the whole process begins again. The two e-mail programs most likely to be affected were Microsoft Outlook and its slimmed down cousin, Microsoft Outlook Express, the newspaper said. Eric Allman, a co-founder of Sendmail, told the Times that he was concerned that the problem would worsen Monday morning when employees find the messages in their e-mail in-boxes. ``This will get into a lot of mail boxes and lay dormant,'' he said. ``When employees come in at 8 a.m. and read these messages, it will cause an explosive growth of the virus.'' Allman described the virus as ``not the worst I'd seen, but it's pretty bad.'' The virus brought the e-mail system to a halt Friday at the GCI Group, a public relations firm with offices nationwide. Leigh Anne Varney said she got more than 500 messages over the course of the day. ``I've never had this happen before.'' ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Steve Wingate California Director SKYWATCH INTERNATIONAL Today's MP3: Xaz: "Boiling Lake" http://www.mp3.com/artists/8/xaz.html ANOMALOUS IMAGES AND UFO FILES http://www.anomalous-images.com DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
