posted on July 26, 2004 12:05:35 PM new
My husband just called to say that he heard on the news that there is a problem with Google. Some people are unable to access it, and they think it might be a virus. They were advising not to use it until they find the problem. Just thought I'd pass it on.
New MyDoom virus spreads quickly
Google hit by virus-driven traffic; some users see errors
Google.com
The new attack is sending millions of additional queries to Google, resulting in error messages for some users, virus experts say.
By Bob Sullivan
Technology correspondent
MSNBC
Updated: 2:36 p.m. ET July 26, 2004
A new version of the MyDoom computer virus that's targeted to attack Internet search engines spread so quickly Monday morning that some Web surfers received error messages when attempting to use Google.com.
The new virus also hit the Yahoo, Altavista, and Lycos search engines, according to antivirus firm McAfee.
The attack uses a new technique designed to spread the worm as quickly as possible. It's customary for computer viruses to search an infected computer for e-mail addresses, then send itself to those e-mail addresses in an attempt to spread quickly. The new version of MyDoom goes one step farther: for each domain name it finds on an infected computer, it generates a Google search, then lifts e-mail addresses out of the results. Infected computers regularly have about 1,000 e-mail addresses on them, said McAfee's Brian Mann -- so each infection generates about 1,000 queries to Google.
McAfee received over 100 submissions of the virus during a 90-minute period Monday morning, a rate Mann called "astronomical." Google is being hit with millions of additional queries, he said.
Symantec Corp. gave the virus a threat level of 4 on a scale of 1 to 5. Spokesman Oliver Friedrichs said his firm had received 250 submissions of the worm in the first few hours.
"There is definitely widespread infection," he said.
Google did not immediately return requests for interview, but there were multiple reports that some Internet surfers were receiving error messages when they tried to perform Google searches. Others reported Google was operating normally.
Keynote Systems Inc., which measures Internet performance, said initial data suggests the virus outbreak has slightly slowed overall Net performance. Average Web site response time has dropped a few percentage points, said spokesman Dan Berkowitz.
The new virus is yet another version of MyDoom, which initially appeared in January, and infected hundreds of thousands of computers.
The new version of the worm arrives with a simple message, such as a error message purporting to be from the recipient's system administrator.
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We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people. -- John F. Kennedy
posted on July 26, 2004 02:35:56 PM new
Read this thread & went out to Desktop & updated my Norton A/V. As to reading emails; only if I know who sent it.
Life Is Too Short To Drink Bad Wine
