Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

OWC: Get the Right Memory for Your Mac Top Quality, Competitive Price, Lifetime Backed Free Expert Support + Installation Videos too! MacBook & mini 8GB, iMac 16GB, Mac Pro up to 32GB. Click here

Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

LoveLetter Virus, a.k.a. Love Bug

May 4, 2000 - 10.50 A.M. EDT: This virus was first detected today and apparently originates in the Philippines. Perhaps the first online resource was the F-Secure Virus Information Page. It was the only one I could find when first posting this article.

Odds are pretty good that you will receive this email. It is a worm containing a Visual Basic script that uses the Microsoft Outlook email client to send itself to everyone in the recipient's address book. Everyone.

And we all know how dominant both Windows and Outlook are. This is spreading like wildfire. We've already received it.

It cannot infect Macs, unless you are running Windows and Outlook with a DOS card or via Windows emulation software. However, if you forward it to a Windows user, it will infect their systems.

This virus will make a mess of a Windows computer, so warn your Windows-using friends. It has already forced some companies to shut down their mail servers and internet connections.

Mac users, just delete the message and attachment.

Windows users, do not open this email. Do not give the enclosed file any opportunity to run.

11:20 A.M.: From a poster on Slashdot, "if the preview pane is open in Outlook, the script runs without you even opening the mail." Others dispute this. I don't do Windows or use Outlook, so I can't say more.

Also, Computers swamped by "love" virus, BBC News.

11:50 A.M.: LoveLetter worm apparently infects Windows versions of both Outlook and Outlook Express.

12:10 P.M.: MacInTouch denies the worm infects Outlook Express.

May 5, 2000 - 7:00 A.M. EDT: Reuters is reporting at least four variants on what Slashdot has called the first Open Source virus.

LoveLetter Links

ILOVEYOU worm an accident?, ZDNet, 5/11. "...de Guzman did not confess to creating the virus but said that he may have been responsible for unleashing it onto the Internet."
Linux users unscathed by ILOVEYOU, Nicholas Petreley, CNN, 5/9. Mac users are not alone in avoiding the Love Bug.
Children of Love Bug: No celebration, ZDNews/Yahoo, 5/8. "The worm also infects files on networked and mapped drives, and it sends itself to people who join a chat room with an infected member."
Microsoft criticized for lack of software security, c|net, 5/5. "Microsoft has built in the ideal virus transmission mechanism into the operating system."
Love Bug computer virus sweeps world, Yahoo/Reuters, 5/5. "'We are now seeing four new variants (of the original virus) spreading rapidly in the wild and expecting this number to increase in the next few days,' said Central Command Inc, a U.S. company which specializes in anti-virus protection."
"ILOVEYOU" worm keeps mutating, MacWeek, 5/5.
Jesse's cure for the Love Bug, Jesse Berst, ZDNet, 5/5.
Computers swamped by "love" virus, BBC News, 5/4. "A computer virus that carries the message 'Iloveyou' is disabling computer networks across the UK," and around the world.
I Love You "virus" hates everyone, Slashdot, 5/4.
ILOVEYOU email worm invades PCs, ZDNet, 5/4. "Melissa-like e-mail worm, bearing the title ILOVEYOU,' is sweeping through Asia and has been reported in the U.S. and the UK."
Computer "love" bug hits Asian, European businesses, government, Boston Globe, 5/4.
VBS.LoveLetter.A, Symantec AntiVirus Research Center, 5/4. Threat assessment: high.
How to fix Windows after a LoveLetter infection, ThePope.com, 5/4 [Slashdot]. "1. If Outlook is running, turn it off now!"
Love Bug virus hits corporate email systems, Financial Times, 5/4 [TechNN]. "Thousands of companies took their email systems offline on Thursday morning after being hit by the virus."
CERT Advisory CA-2000-04 Love Letter Worm, 5/4. "Systems Affected: Systems running Microsoft Windows with Windows Scripting Host enabled"
Macs mostly immune from worm, Stephen Beale, MacWeek, 5/4. "The Love Letter worm currently infecting PC systems worldwide cannot replicate itself on a Macintosh, experts told MacWEEK. However, Macs running Windows emulators could be affected."

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2009 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.