"Naked Wife" Virus Alert

Just when we thought Horro was enough to deal with..FYI..

‘Naked Wife’ Attacks
Tempts Users, Then Infects Their Operating Systems

By Michael S. James



March 7 — A computer virus posing as an animation feature has hit dozens of offices — teasing users with the impression they will see a "naked wife," but instead stripping bare their Windows operating systems.



The virus attacked computers of at least 30 organizations and a federal agency Tuesday, according to The Associated Press. In addition, the Sophos Anti-Virus Company has received reports of 10 to 15 attacks by the virus in Europe, according to Peter Cooper, the company's United Kingdom head of technical support.
Tease Leaves Users Jilted

According to anti-virus companies, the "naked wife" virus arrives with the subject line, "Fw: Naked Wife," and the message, "My wife never look like that! ;-)."

But don't be tempted by the come-on, even if it comes from someone you know, anti-virus experts say. Simply delete the e-mail from your computer without opening any attachment.

The e-mail containing the virus likely may be signed by a sender the user knows, because if a recipient who uses Microsoft Outlook attempts to open NakedWife.exe, an attachment in the e-mail, the virus will forward the message to everybody in the user's address book.

The virus then attacks the computer of the person opening the attachment, attempting to destroy all .bmp, .com, .dll, .exe, .ini and .log files in the WINDOWS and WINDOWS/SYSTEM directories, according to the anti-virus site, McAfee.com.

"The only way to get the system back to an operational state is to re-install it," according to Symantec.com, another anti-virus site.

To add insult to injury, users who try to access "help" through a flash window are likely to get the message, "You are now F***ED. (c) 2001 by BGK (Bill Gates Killer)."

Animation Company ‘Outraged,’ Vows to Prosecute

As the virus does its work, it displays the logo of JibJab.com, a Brooklyn-based Web site that creates and distributes animation for the Internet and television. The JibJab animations commonly are passed by e-mail among Web animation aficionadoes, making the ruse that much more complete, according to an official at JibJab.

"You think you're about to watch a JibJab animation, but what you're actually doing is downloading the virus," said John Nugent, vice president of production for JibJab Media Inc.

But, he adds, JibJab actually had no intentional role in distributing the virus, and hopes to prosecute the virus creator for trademark infringement.

"We're outraged," Nugent says. "Hopefully, they'll catch the guy, and we have lawyers who'll deal with the situation."