Computer security experts on Monday warned of a new virus that deletes files while masquerading as a program that will allow people to vote on whether the United States should go to war over the Sept. 11 hijacker attacks.
The virus, punctuated by strange grammar and a mix of lower- and upper-case letters, appears with the subject line: "Peace between America and Islam!" and the body of the e-mail reads: "Hi. Is it a war against America or Islam!? Let's vote to live in peace!" Perry and other experts said.
When the attachment entitled "WTC.exe" is opened, the virus tries to delete all the files on the computer's hard drive and sends copies of the e-mail to every address listed in the computer's address book, he said.
The virus also defaces any Web pages that are hosted by an infected computer to read: "America ... few days will show you what we can do!!! It's our turn >>> ZaCker is so sorry for you," according to Perry.
In addition the virus, which is a worm because of its self-propagation capabilities, deletes the Windows directory files, tries to download a "backdoor" on the computer and unsuccessfully attempts to reformat the system. The virus also can delete antivirus software on the computer, according to Vincent Weafer, director of Symantec Antivirus Research Center.
News source: Reuters
View Virus details: McAfee - W32/Vote@MM / SARC Symantec - W32.Vote.A@mm
