http://cnn.com/TECH/computing/9901/29/iworm-ent.idg/index.html Internet worm can crash corporate servers January 29, 1999 by Roberta Fusaro (IDG) -- A Helsinki, Finland-based data security firm is warning Netizens about a computer worm, called Happy99, that can send hundreds of copies of itself to the same newsgroups and E-mail addresses that an infected user is posting or E-mailing to. According to Data Fellows Inc., users' PCs don't suffer ill effects by reading a Happy99 message in a Usenet newsgroup or in E-mail. When someone executes the Happy99.exe attachment, a fireworks display appears on his screen. Meanwhile, in the background, the worm alters the host computer's Internet configuration to keep track of all E-mail or newsgroup activity. The worm then spams itself to the same newsgroups and E-mail addresses to which a user posts. It also maintains a list of newsgroups to which it has sent a copy of itself. Data Fellows said the worm doesn't pose a threat to computer files in the way a virus would but warned that it could slow down or crash corporate E-mail servers because of the volume of messages involved. Original PC configurations can be restored by renaming the host computer's winsock32.dll file. In addition, Data Fellows has a patch available on its Web site at www.datafellows.com. -o- Subscribe: mail majordomoat_private with "subscribe isn". Today's ISN Sponsor: Internet Security Institute [www.isi-sec.com]
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