There has been a huge outbreak of a new virus over the last day.

It is transmitted by email, and comes with any of the following subject lines:

Error
Status
Server Report
Mail Transaction Failed
Mail Delivery System
hello
hi

There is an attachment with the email that has a .zip extension. The filename can be, but is not limited to the following names:

document.zip
message.zip
readme.zip

If you receive an email such as this, DO NOT OPEN THE ATTACHMENT.

By Texannie on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 - 09:46 am:

I got a warning from McAfee on this yesterday. Sounds like a baddie. It also said it could come through Kazaa.

By Bubbels~admin on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 - 10:40 am:

I just warned Amy and Mike last night that I've suddenly had a big influx of these virus-laden emails, often ten of them in a row.

By Kernkate on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 - 10:48 am:

Thanks for the heads up. I didn't hear about this one.

By Dawnk777 on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 - 10:56 am:

My anti-virus software is up-to-date. I haven't gotten any of these emails yet.

By Marcia on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 - 11:22 am:

I've had tons of these come through lately. I have also had several emails bounce back, but emails I didn't send in the first place. They went to people I've never heard of. No idea what that's about. I have Live Update constantly running, so know I'm covered.

By Dawnk777 on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - 01:12 am:

Got my first one tonight! Luckily I knew what it was and it's gone. Those microsoft "security updates"? I can't even count how many of those I got! LOL!

By Mommyathome on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - 03:39 pm:

I got 3 of them this morning!

By Mrse on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - 04:01 pm:

Oh no! In the last few days, I have been getting emails saying that the following message could not be sent. The address they were sent to, I do not even know this person, it has been really weird, I did an virus test last night but nothing showed up......... now I am worried!

By Sue3 on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - 04:16 pm:

Thanks for the info Bea !

By John on Thursday, January 29, 2004 - 04:35 pm:

Everyone should be running antivirus software on their computer.
It's the best $20-$30 you can spend.
Norton Antivirus is highly recommended because they give you regular updates over the Internet as they discover new viruses.

This new virus is called W32/Mydoom and is now officially considered the most virulant virus ever discovered.

After your PC becomes infected:

It emails every address in your address book a copy of itself and also makes up addresses as well.

It leaves a "backdoor" in place on your computer that allows hackers to take over your PC.

Your PC will then participate in an "attack" on a software vendor's website on February 1.

If you don't have a virus scanner, here's a free one:

http://housecall.trendmicro.com

If you already have antivirus do not try to run the one from the above link.