NewLove virus is slow-moving but deadly

NEWS Anti-virus experts are today warning computer users of a highly destructive Love Bug variant disguised to evade detection. The NewLove virus attacks Windows 95, 98, 2000 and NT and can overwrite all files not protected by NT security. Users must then rebuild those files from clean back-up copies. A researcher from IT security company, Symantec, said: "If you don't stop it, your system won't reboot and you are hosed." Aled Miles, managing director of Symantec's UK and Ireland operations said NewLove is far cleverer than the original. The virus mutates before sending itself to every address in the Microsoft Outlook address book, changing the subject header and file name so that users don't know what name to watch out for. Yet the spread of NewLove has been slow. In the first 17 hours since the virus's detection, it had infected 14 of Symantec's customers, mostly in the US. In contrast, that same period of time saw the Love bug infect 80 per cent of the world's computers. Miles credits heightened virus awareness and strong network management for the slow spread of NewLove. He said: "Network managers have taken the sensible step of blocking .vbs files, and that's what's stopping the spread."