The best anti virus measure for these particular viruses is not opening any attachment which has .vbs at the end of the file name unless you are expecting .vbs file, you know what it is and you are sure it was sent to you by the person whose name appears on the email. .vbs is a term operating system software reads as "run this computer programme which is a software script written in the visual basic programming language". It's running the script which does the damage. It's a script which tells your computer's operating system to permanently delete lots of files stored on the hard drive. R McInnes South Aust----- Original Message ----- From: "Bill Caddell" <bcaddell@hcnews.com> To: <SCT-INVERNESS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, May 05, 2000 6:21 PM Subject: [SCT-INV-L] VIRUS *ALERT* > ATTN: List Researchers > > FYI, below is info about the latest virus. > > http://news.excite.com/news/zd/000504/09/iloveyou-e-mail-worm > > ILOVEYOU e-mail worm invades > PCs, > Updated 9:55 AM ET May 4, 2000, by Margaret Kane, ZDNet News, > Melissa-like e-mail worm, bearing the title ILOVEYOU,' is sweeping > through Asia and has been reported in the U.S. and the UK., A new > Melissa-like e-mail worm has spread through Asia and Europe via e-mail > messages titled "ILOVEYOU." , A spokeswoman for anti-virus company > Symantec Corp. told ZDNet UK that the virus "seems to be very > widespread" and that four major, European corporations have had > serious problems with their e-mail systems due to the worm. , Dow > Jones reported this morning that the worm affected Hong Kong and > Singapore, and appeared to have hit investment banks and public > relations, firms particularly hard. The wire service said that Credit > Lyonnais Securities (Asia) shut its outgoing mail server 11 minutes > after receiving the virus to, prevent it from spreading any further. > , And there are reports that it has begun to spread to the United > States. , Symantec said it has reports of more than 1,000 infections. > The bug, which the company called VBS.LoveLetter.A, uses Microsoft > Outlook to, replicate itself, sending messages with the message > "kindly check the attached LOVELETTER coming from me." , The name of > the attachment is "LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs." , Once the > attachment is opened, the worm replicates itself and adds several files > to the user's computer. , The file may have originated from a user > dubbed "spyder" in the Philippines. The text of the virus script also > contains the phrase "i hate to go to, school." , Numerous > anti-viral sites, such as Symantec's Antivirus Research Center, say a > fix is pending. , Melissa brought worldwide attention to the problems > of computer viruses when it struck e-mail systems in March 1999. The > program knocked out, e-mail servers at dozens of corporations and is > estimated to have caused millions of dollars' worth of damage. , > David L. Smith, the alleged author of the Melissa virus, was recently > arraigned in a New Jersey court on charges of interruption to public, > communications, conspiracy to commit the offense and attempt to commit > the offense., Related Links:, 'I love you' e-mail virus > spreading, What the experts think, Get the latest Net news , > Related Stories, ILOVEYOU e-mail worm invades PCs (May 4 8:20 am > ET), , Archive: Fri May 5 Thu 4 Wed 3 Tue 2 Mon 1 Sun Apr > 30 Sat 29 > > Be careful. > > Bill Caddell > Listowner >