Updated A new strain of the LoveBug virus is apparently worming its way into Switzerland and Russia, targeting bank account details and passwords.

At present the virus only affects United Bank of Switzerland (UBS) customers.

The virus masquerades as a resume file called RESUME.TXT.VBS attached to an email. It purports to be from a Swiss Internet company looking for a Net programmer. If the attached file is opened, the virus runs the Notepad word processor and displays the following text:

Knowledge Engineer, Zurich

Intelligente Agenten im Internet sammeln Informationen, erkluren Sachverhalte im Customer Service, navigieren im Web, beantworten Email Anfragen oder verkaufen Produkte.

Once active in the system, the virus downloads a password-stealing program called Hooker from the Net which then copies online banking information from the infected computer. Passwords are being sent to three email addresses ct102356@excite.com, acch01@netscape.net and deroha@mailcity.com.

Russia-based virus specialist Kapersky Labs has issued warnings about the virus, and has intimated that the password-stealer was placed on computers at Michigan State University and the National Institute of Health.

Update

The FBI has confirmed that it is investigating the new
variant of the Love bug, following two reported US
infections.

Security experts in the US are warning that the
modified Love bug virus could be used as a road map
for other virus writers, leading to a new epidemic of
viruses designed to steal information from your PC.

And the real threat is not from large scale viruses sent out by people into the wild, but with carefully targeted and specifically designed programs aimed at small groups or individuals.

Swiss bank UBS said that the virus has caused no damage. The bank says only a small proportion of its users are susceptible to the attack and that noone has reported any problems so far. ®

Related Link

More information about the original LoveBug VBScript worm can be found on the Network Associates Site, here.