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Friday, 5 May, 2000, 12:17 GMT 13:17 UK 
New threat from Love Bug copycats

The virus spread around the world. New versions of the devastating Love Bug
computer virus are threatening to wreak fresh havoc on computers across the world. 

The computer security firm Symantec say they are looking at 10 copycat viruses able to elude
software designed to block messages with the original Love Bug virus. 

The search for the creator of the Love Bug, Iinvolving the FBI and Interpol, is focusing on
the Philippines after a Manila internet services provider reported that the virus appeared to
have spread from two of its e-mail addresses. 

The Love Bug is thought to be the fastest-moving and most widespread virus
ever seen, affecting tens of millions of computers, according to some estimates, and
causing damage worth hundreds of millions of dollars. 

One of the copycat viruses entices users to open an e-mail with the word "Joke" in the
subject line that unleashes yet another virus masquerading as a "Very Funny" attachment. 

Dormant virus 

Manila ISP Supernet said the original Love Bug e-mail was uploaded onto its servers as early
as 28 April but remained dormant until Thursday. 

The company said it suspected the author
was a 23-year-old man living in Manila, who hid
behind a smokescreen of hacked internet accounts, and pre-paid
internet user cards.  
"He's been very crafty. He's been very able to
move around the network, the various
ISPs, and he's been very hard to locate,"
said Jose Carlotta, chief operating officer of Supernet's parent company
Access Net.  
"He's been using a lot of hacked accounts ...he illegally gets the user name and passwords
and he uses those accounts for his own purposes." 

However, Mr Carlotta said it was possible the creator was in another city or country. 

Lithuanian officials said on Friday they would investigate whether the virus might have
originated there, after a Love Bug began circulating with the title, in Lithuanian, of
"Let's meet this evening for coffee".  
Like last year's Melissa virus, the Love Bug is spread by e-mails that multiply once opened
by the recipient, sending new messages to everyone in the user's address book. 

Rapid replication 

In addition, the virus is spread through instant messaging systems which allow people to chat
in real time on the internet. 
The Love Bug is more destructive than
Melissa as it overwrites audio and picture files,
replacing them with its own code.

The virus is reactivated if one of these files is
subsequently opened.  The proliferation of
messages on Thursday created a huge volume
of electronic mail which overwhelmed computer
systems. 

US government agencies including the State Department, the CIA and the Defense
Department said their computer systems had been hit, but that top-security material had
not been affected. 
The State Department was forced to disconnect its computer systems from the
internet, a spokesman said. 
US companies were likewise forced to take their e-mail systems off-line to isolate the
spread of the virus. 
The Love Bug was blamed for shutting down the website of the state lottery in Florida. 

One DJ in Texas received the e-mail virus 1,500 times. 

Delete 

Europe was also hard hit on Thursday, with the victims including the UK House of Commons,
the Danish Parliament and the Swiss federal government, along with many banks and other
companies. 

About 10% of businesses around the UK were reported to have been affected. 

Computer experts have advised people using Microsoft Outlook who receive the e-mail not
to open it, but to shift-delete it immediately.  If the message is opened, users should on no
account open the attachment that comes with it. 

If the attachment is opened, experts advise users to log off, switch off the computer, and
contact their help desk. 

Hotmail accounts compromised

Web page apparently let visitors see thousands of personal e-mail account without a password

By Bob Sullivan
MSNBC - Aug. 30

Apparently thousands, if not millions, of personal e-mail accounts hosted at Microsoft's Hotmail.com were compromised over the weekend. Thanks to the work of a computer hacker, viewers visiting at least two Web sites, and possibly more, were able to view personal e-mail accounts simply by entering a hotmail user name. Microsoft, which didn't immediately comment, has apparently plugged the security hole this morning.

JUST HOW LONG Hotmail e-mails were compromised was not immediately known. But hundreds of visitors to the slashdot.org bulletin board site suggested users there had successfully tested the Web pages and cracked into personal e-mail accounts without needing passwords. One of the mirror sites for the hack was registered to Erik Barkel, of Stockholm, Sweden. In response to an e-mail sent to the site, a writer with the alias "erikb" told MSNBC: "I didn't code the thing. I did host a mirror of it. The mirror is gone. Thank you."

That author also said the story was originally broken by a Swedish Web site, Expressen.se. He also said the original site for the hack was hosted by a Web site ending in .uz, which indicates it was located in Uzbekistan.

The administrator of another mirror site told MSNBC the hack was just one line of computer code a single URL, really which could be entered into any Web browser. He said the exploit took advantage of Microsoft's new Passport feature, which allows users to click through MSN sites without having to log on separately at each site.

Posters to slashdot.org indicate the security hole was closed at about 10 a.m. ET Monday.

(Microsoft is a partner in MSNBC.)

The source code for creating a copycat of the Hotmail hack Web site was readily available, and at least one mirror version of it was still up at 12:30 p.m. ET. The hack no longer worked, however.

In an obvious sarcastic jab, visitors to the original Hotmail hack site are now being redirected to Microsoft's security bulletin Web site.

Calls to Microsoft were not immediately returned.

The Hotmail site appeared to be functioning normally at midday Monday, and there was no mention of the break-in.

From MSN home page

Microsoft Resolves Hotmail Security Issue
Redmond, Wash., Aug. 30, 1999

Dear Valued Customer,

You may be aware from published reports that today MSN Hotmail experienced service issues that have generated questions about security. We can tell you that the issue has been resolved and MSN Hotmail is currently operating normally.

This letter is intended to address your concerns and provide you with the latest information concerning this issue.

Microsoft was notified early this morning (Pacific time) of a potential security vulnerability that could enable unauthorized access to Hotmail servers. Microsoft immediately investigated the issue and, in the interest of user privacy and security, made the decision to temporarily take Hotmail servers offline. In light of the inconvenience that such an action can cause users, this is not something that we take lightly but felt that, given Microsoft's commitment to protecting people's private data and information, it was the appropriate course of action.

Since then, Microsoft engineers have worked quickly to pinpoint the issue and to resolve it and have restored the Hotmail servers so that users can continue enjoying the benefits of Hotmail with full privacy and security. Please note that no action on your part is necessary to take advantage of the updated Hotmail.

We apologize for the inconvenience this issue may have caused. We are gratified that you have made Hotmail the world's most popular free e-mail provider, and are committed to further improving the award-winning service in the months ahead.

For more information about Hotmail's privacy policies, please read Hotmail's privacy statement or e-mail [email protected].

Thank you for being a Hotmail member.

Hotmail Member Services
Microsoft Corporation

Member Services
About Passport
Message to Hotmail Members (13 September, 3 October, 4 October,)

We apologize, but your account is temporarily unavailable. This delay does not affect the entire site or relate specifically to your account, but the machine that holds your account information is temporarily unavailable. We do not expect this delay to last much longer, so please continue to check our site for your account status.

We will do our best to make your account available as quickly as possible. We appreciate your support, and sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.

© 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

From 12 October CSM news summary:

The governor of California vetoed a bill aimed at protecting workers' e-mail privacy. The measure would have required companies to inform employees before monitoring their electronic mail. Gov. Gray Davis (D) likened monitoring of e-mail to limiting personal long-distance phone calls. About 20 percent of Fortune 1000 firms use special software to monitor office computers, the American Management Association says.

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