MyDoom virus wreaks havoc

Thousands of computer users have been infected by a new virus, which security experts say is spreading quickly worldwide. The new worm, known as MyDoom, spreads via email in a message with varying subjects and with file extensions including .bat, .cmd, .exe, .pif, .scr or .zip. MyDoom also spreads via the Kazaa file-sharing network and could launch a denial of service attack from infected computers against the website www.sco.com. According to anti-virus companies, MyDoom is the most dangerous virus to appear so far this year and could reach the epidemic levels achieved by the infamous Bugbear and Sobig viruses last summer. Kevin Hogan of Symantec Security Response, told Web User: "MyDoom worm is the most prolific virus of 2004 so far, it's proved successful at spreading itself very quickly following its first appearance in the USA yesterday." MyDoom drops itself in to your System folder under the name 'taskmon.exe' and also drops a file named shimgapi.dll, which is a backdoor program that allows hacker to gain remote control of the affected computer. Security experts advise you to treat all emails received with caution, to update your anti-virus software as soon as possible and to install a firewall.