I had nothng to do with this.
Mar. 1st, 2002 10:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tiamatladyMy EBP doesn't reach this far
Oops! Britney Email Worm Wiggles Through Cyberspace
Fri Mar 1, 7:35 AM ET
By Bernhard Warner, European Internet Correspondent
LONDON (Reuters) - Britney Spears can add one more notch to her soaring global popularity: the perky pop star has become the inspiration for a potentially destructive email worm touring through cyberspace, security experts said on Friday.
The bug, labeled variously as "VBS/Britney-A" and "VBS_BRITNEYPIC.A," is considered low risk because it has infected a small number of computer users in Europe since it was initially detected on Thursday morning, computer experts said.
But because the worm carries an attachment masquerading as a picture of the 20-year-old pop idol, security officials were still on alert yesterday. "Because this says 'Britney Spears' we thought this may have potential to spread," said Natasha Staley, a spokeswoman for British computer security firm Sophos Anti-Virus.
The name "Britney Spears" is consistently one of the most popular search terms on Internet search engines, and the massively successful singer has been the inspiration behind scores of fan sites.
BRITNEY, JENNIFER AND ANNA KOURNIKOVA (news - web sites)
Spears is the latest attractive female celebrity to be used by virus writers hoping to ensnare scores of would-be victims. The singer/actress Jennifer Lopez was the subject of a minor email virus threat last year.
The reigning queen of celebrity email bugs is still Russian tennis star Anna Kournikova, computer experts say.
Last May, the so-called "Anna Kournikova" email worm had a nasty run in the wild.
In that case, the worm crippled computer servers and slowed down Internet traffic around the world, after unsuspecting computer users clicked on an email attachment thinking they would see a photo of the pint-sized tennis star.
The author, a Dutch man, was eventually arrested and sentenced last September to 150 hours of community service. Raimund Genes, European president of computer security firm Trend Micro , said the Britney Spears virus is much less sophisticated than the Kournikova worm, which could explain it's relatively slow infestation.
The worm, he said, carries an attachment labeled ".CHM," which doesn't look like a photo attachment and could tip off computer users that it's a hoax.
According to Sophos, the Britney bug spreads via the popular Microsoft Outlook email program as well as Internet Relay Chat channels on the Internet. As with Kournikova, it could overload computer servers and slow Internet traffic.
Oops! Britney Email Worm Wiggles Through Cyberspace
Fri Mar 1, 7:35 AM ET
By Bernhard Warner, European Internet Correspondent
LONDON (Reuters) - Britney Spears can add one more notch to her soaring global popularity: the perky pop star has become the inspiration for a potentially destructive email worm touring through cyberspace, security experts said on Friday.
The bug, labeled variously as "VBS/Britney-A" and "VBS_BRITNEYPIC.A," is considered low risk because it has infected a small number of computer users in Europe since it was initially detected on Thursday morning, computer experts said.
But because the worm carries an attachment masquerading as a picture of the 20-year-old pop idol, security officials were still on alert yesterday. "Because this says 'Britney Spears' we thought this may have potential to spread," said Natasha Staley, a spokeswoman for British computer security firm Sophos Anti-Virus.
The name "Britney Spears" is consistently one of the most popular search terms on Internet search engines, and the massively successful singer has been the inspiration behind scores of fan sites.
BRITNEY, JENNIFER AND ANNA KOURNIKOVA (news - web sites)
Spears is the latest attractive female celebrity to be used by virus writers hoping to ensnare scores of would-be victims. The singer/actress Jennifer Lopez was the subject of a minor email virus threat last year.
The reigning queen of celebrity email bugs is still Russian tennis star Anna Kournikova, computer experts say.
Last May, the so-called "Anna Kournikova" email worm had a nasty run in the wild.
In that case, the worm crippled computer servers and slowed down Internet traffic around the world, after unsuspecting computer users clicked on an email attachment thinking they would see a photo of the pint-sized tennis star.
The author, a Dutch man, was eventually arrested and sentenced last September to 150 hours of community service. Raimund Genes, European president of computer security firm Trend Micro , said the Britney Spears virus is much less sophisticated than the Kournikova worm, which could explain it's relatively slow infestation.
The worm, he said, carries an attachment labeled ".CHM," which doesn't look like a photo attachment and could tip off computer users that it's a hoax.
According to Sophos, the Britney bug spreads via the popular Microsoft Outlook email program as well as Internet Relay Chat channels on the Internet. As with Kournikova, it could overload computer servers and slow Internet traffic.
