News
"Killer Resume" Worm Latest Virus to Strike via E-mail
- By Scott Bekker
- 05/31/2000
The "Killer Resume" worm, so named because of its disguise as a job seeker's resume, hit a number of corporate e-mail systems on Friday and its destructive path was expected to continue through the holiday weekend into this week.
The worm deletes critical files on a user's system after being activated by opening an attachment. The worm arrives via e-mail with the subject line "Resume -- Janet Simons" and includes an attachment labeled "resume.doc" or "explorer.doc". Once activated, the worm e-mails itself to every address in the user's Outlook address book, and deletes system files on the user's machine.
Both Computer Associates International Inc. (www.ca.com) and Symantec Corp. (www.symantec.com) had developed filters for the worm by yesterday afternoon.. Network Associates Inc. (www.nai.com) rated the outbreak of the worm a "Medium, On Watch," but Trend Micro Inc. (www.antivirus.com) has given it a "High Risk" assessment. - Isaac Slepner
About the Author
Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.