The Love Child

It was bound to happen. That it could be done has been broadcast all over the net. And now it's here, and has already hit three Israeli and European clients by May 18.

Once again one must wonder how incorrigibly stupid people can be. Even after Melissa, even after ILOVEYOU, these morons (there no longer is any other word) go on using Microsoft Outlook.

But to the gist of the story:

The new variant, already dubbed 'The Love Child' by the media, works just like the ILOVEYOU worm, but does not attempt to elicit any ISP account information - it only wants to destroy.

Its method is simple - it sets the file lengths of all files on the victimized computer to zero. Now while a satisfactory file recovery utility might succeed in restoring some or all of the system, the task is gargantuan, leaving only backup from a healthy restore or a complete re-install of everything previously on the computer's disks.

The Love Child worm also practices stealth, changing its exact contents from run to run, in an as yet successful attempt to elude anti-virus software.

The link below, to the Asian branch of ZD News, recommends three possible ways to 'vaccinate' computers against this new threat, but curiously and typically leaves out the most important and obvious of them all: stop using ridiculous software like MS Outlook in the first place.

And radsoft.net have to ask in this context: what is it going to take to get the idiots (again, no longer is there any other word) of this world - even system administrators at the FBI and the CIA - to wake up?

http://www.zdnetasia.com/stories/0,10000002,10072138,00.html