The FBI is investigating a smarter, sneakier and more destructive computer virus than the one that ruined tens of millions of files around the world earlier this month.
The new virus – variously nicknamed “New Love,” “Spammer.A” or “Herbie” – was detected at several large companies late Thursday.
Thousands of computers in the United States were believed to have been infected yesterday.
Like the earlier virus – which was spread two weeks ago by an e-mail with a subject heading of “I Love You” – the new virus comes with an attachment that destroys files if opened.
Computer experts said it was spreading more slowly than the earlier virus – but doing much more damage.
It renames files – and sets their file size to zero.
As a result, the virus “can literally destroy a computer in 20 seconds,” said Simon Perry, vice president of security at Long Island-based Computer Associates.
The new virus is also more deceptive because it changes the e-mail’s subject line and program code every time it’s retransmitted, authorities said.
In each case, the subject line starts with “FW:”.
Attorney General Janet Reno urged computer users to delete any such e-mail that also contains a “Vbs” file extension.
Vbs stands for the Microsoft computer language of both the “I Love You” and new virus.
“Do not open it, even if it comes from a trusted source,” Reno said of those e-mails.
If a user activates the virus by clicking on the attachment, it will send itself to anyone in the user’s address book – just like “I Love You.”
Piers McMahon of Computer Associates advised anyone getting a suspicious e-mail to ask the source if he intentionally sent it.
“Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, he didn’t,” McMahon said.