New virus wipes your HDD, then rings 911

A recent FBI case has revealed the creation and distribution of a self-replicating script that can erase hard drives and automatically dial 911 emergency services, the Bureau's National Infrastructure Protection Centre (NIPC) says. The script can actively search the Internet for computers foolishly set up for file and print sharing and copy itself to those systems. It can overwrite victims' hard drives. It can cause victims' systems to dial 911. Thus far the FBI believes there has been "a relatively limited" distribution of the script, confined so far to the Houston, Texas area. 'Source computers' have scanned several thousand boxes through four ISPs: AOL, AT&T, MCI and NetZero. The script is likely to be hidden in a directory named chode, dickhair or foreskin, the FBI says. The FBI requests that anyone with personal knowledge of chode and dickhair and their smarmy contents contact them via the NIPC Web site. ®