Originally from : "Samuel Bernas" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Originally dated: Mon, 15 Nov 1999 09:01:30 +0700

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'Bubbleboy' Virus Breaks New Ground
By Jim Kerstetter, PC Week

Concept worm totally rewrites the rules for virus writing, opening nightmare
possibilities

Prepare to unlearn everything you've learned about computer viruses.

An anonymous virus writer who is apparently an avid "Seinfeld" fan has
created a virus -- actually a self-replicating worm -- that can spread
itself through a user's Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express client.

The worm, called "BubbleBoy" in an apparent reference to a "Seinfeld"
episode, is unlike anything that anti-virus software vendors have seen to
this point.

It doesn't rely on an attachment. Instead, all a user has to do is open an
e-mail. An embedded Visual Basic Script command attaches itself to the
Outlook address book and mails the e-mail to everyone in the address list.

"Historically, anti-virus vendors have always told users, 'If you don't open
the attachment, you won't have a problem,' " said Sal Viveros, marketing
manager for Total Virus Defense at Network Associates Inc. in Santa Clara,
Calif. "This changes that."

For Outlook Express users, it's particularly troubling. Simply using the
preview function of Outlook Express will allow the worm to replicate.

New Breed, But Low Risk
Still, BubbleBoy is considered low risk by most anti-virus software vendors,
including Network Associates, Symantec Corp., Computer Associates
International Inc. and Trend Micro Corp., because it hasn't been reported by
any customers.

Besides being a nuisance, it doesn't carry with it any code that could
damage someone's computer.

Someone thought to be the virus writer, most likely in an effort to gain
attention, sent BubbleBoy to anti-virus companies and posted it on several
Web sites Monday night.

Anti-virus vendors worry that this could be a harbinger of some very nasty
things to come.

Last month, researchers at the Virus Bulletin conference in Vancouver
speculated that something like BubbleBoy could be created.

And just a few days ago, a posting on several security sites explained how
it could be done, said Dan Schrader, vice president of new technology at
Trend Micro in Cupertino, Calif.

It wouldn't be difficult, Schrader said, for virus writers to release
something like BubbleBoy into the wild and attach a malicious payload to the
VBS program.

"It's interesting. And it's scary. And it's quite powerful," he said.

But, Schrader added, it isn't in the wild quite yet, and most anti-virus
vendors should have it added to their virus definition lists by the end of
the day.

Patching For Protection
Who's Affected?
BubbleBoy requires Internet Explorer 5.0 with Windows Scripting Host
installed, which is standard on Windows 98 and Windows 2000. It doesn't run
on Windows NT or on the default settings of Windows 95. Setting IE 5.0 to
its maximum security setting would prevent it from doing anything.

Users won't know they have been infected until the initial e-mail blast.
After that, the worm changes the registered owner to BubbleBoy and the
organization to "Vandelay Industries."

The body of the message simply says, "The BubbleBoy incident, pictures and
sounds."

Vandelay Industries, like the BubbleBoy whose bubble burst during a tense
game of Trivial Pursuit, was a long-running joke on "Seinfeld." George,
Jerry's often-unemployed sidekick, was fond of saying he worked for the
fictitious Vandelay Industries.

The BubbleBoy worm may be taking advantage of a Microsoft security hole for
which there is a patch.

Symantec anti-virus researchers in Santa Monica, Calif., are trying to
determine if BubbleBoy is taking advantage of an IE 5.0 security flaw
discovered in August.

Patch That App
In a security bulletin dated August 31, Microsoft posted a patch that
eliminates the security vulnerabilities in two Active X controls of IE 5.0.

The net effect of the vulnerabilities, according to Microsoft, was that a
Web page could take control of a user's computer without the user knowing
it. Grab the update to patch IE 5.0. Download the patch here:
http://cgi.zdnet.com/slink?12664:1696178

Researchers add that BubbleBoy is further proof that, as anti-virus
technology improves, virus writers are getting smarter, particularly when it
comes to VBS.

"BubbleBoy in of itself is not very dangerous," said Narender Mangalam,
director of security products at Computer Associates in Islandia, N.Y. "The
reason we are all very interested in this is because it is a proof of
concept."




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