| The bird flu virus has spread to the World Wide Web Human psychology is designed in such a way that what you fear most mysteriously attracts attention. This explains the continued popularity of horror films, as well as the passion for risk and adventure. It is precisely this property of homo sapiens that the ubiquitous hackers have once again brutally abused. They created a dangerous computer virus that was sent by email under the guise of a document warning about the spread of bird flu. As you know, the strain of the real H5N1 virus is spreading not only across Russia, but also across European countries, and was recently registered even in Canada. Computer hackers design email headers to make it appear to the recipient that they have received a message from some reputable government agency.
The Spanish computer company Panda Software discovered the electronic pest. According to a description of specialists published on the company’s website, the virus, classified as Naiva.A, “pretends” to be a document in Microsoft Word format, which is attached to a virus email sent with the heading “Outbreak in North America” or “What is avian influenza (bird flu)? (what is bird flu?). When opening a file, the system becomes infected. The virus is modified and then creates and deletes certain files. The second part of the virus installs a program that allows hackers to gain remote access and control over the infected computer.
It is surprising, however, that European hackers equipped their product almost in analogy with the famous Albanian virus, which, as you know, asks the computer user to manually delete all files from his disk. According to Panda Software, the virus cannot spread on its own. Its creators supposedly hand-mail it and package it into files that can be downloaded from the Internet. If this is true, then there will be no global epidemic of computer bird flu. The virus mainly threatens those people whose friends or colleagues love to forward interesting letters that come to them in the mail to everyone.
Viruses that exploit topics that are relevant to society have been used for a long time. About five to seven years ago, at least in our country, viruses spreading through porn sites or letters with headlines inviting erotic content were very popular. However, the topic of sexual relations did not last long. Soon, her place in the email subject line was firmly occupied by constantly changing “sensational” headlines. Moreover, a well-written phrase could even contain a warning about a virus, but the recipient still could not cope with the temptation to open such a letter. A classic example is the Bulgarian viruses, sent in letters with the headings “Bulgarian viruses are driving Italy crazy” or “Black Avenger - a Bulgarian product.”
Relatively recent hits of hacker creativity include a British virus that supposedly contains a unique video recording from one of the sites of the terrorist attacks in London on July 7, a virus that lures recipients with a message about the suicide of Michael Jackson, and a virus with a message about the capture of Osama Bin Laden. Kirill VASILENKO |
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