01/27/04:W32/MyDoom-A Virus Alert

This is a warning about a new virus/worm being spread called W32/MyDoom-A.

Bruin Online scans all incoming and outgoing mail for viruses. If a virus infected email is found, BOL quarantines the virus infected emails, and sends a Virus Notification from vscan@ucla.edu. These notifications indicate that an email destined for your email account was believed to contain the virus and does not mean that your computer is infected with the virus.

Users may have received "Returned messages" for emails that they may not have sent. The MyDoom virus fakes or "spoofs" the From:/To: fields when sending an infected message to other addresses. Email addresses are collected from the address book and the web browser history on the infected machine. As a result, a message may appear to be sent by you to an invalid address, causing the message to bounce back to the faked From: address (your email address). This is most likely why you are either receiving unfamiliar and undeliverable error messages or complaints about messages that you never sent.

For more information, please see http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/analyses/w32mydooma.html.

If you do not have an Anti-virus program, we recommend that you download Sophos Antivirus free of charge at http://www.bol.ucla.edu/software/

If you have any questions, please contact us at (310)825-7452, option 1, or at consult@ucla.edu.