WITH OUR DEEPEST REGRETS

World squirms as Sobig returns (CNET News.com, August 19, 2003)

The Sobig e-mail virus that caused havoc two months ago has reappeared in a virulent new form, according to e-mail service provider MessageLabs.
The company has given the virus a high-level alert statusbecause of its rapid spread.

The new worm, code-named W32/Sobig.F-mm, appeared Monday, according to the company. All copies came from the United States. So far, the worm has been active in the United States, Denmark and Norway. Anecdotal evidence suggests that it has also spread to Asia-Pacific.

MessageLabs on Tuesday reported that 21 percent of cases were in the United Kingdom. The Sophos Web site indicated that the antivirus company had received "many reports of this worm from the wild."

"Initial analysis would suggest that Sobig.F is a mass-e-mailing virus that is spreading very vigorously. Sobig.F appears to be polymorphic in nature. The address is also spoofed and may not indicate the true identity of the sender," a MessageLabs statement said.

The sender appears to be someone from a recognized domain name, such as ibm.com, zdnet.com or microsoft.com. The subject line typically says "Re: Details," "Resume" or "Thank you."

We're receiving hundreds of these e-mails, so have switched to an e-mail green list that hasn't been update since the late '90s (However, you can send us mail from a brothersjudd address if you care to add an account--it's free). If you're trying to e-mail us and get it kicked back, I apologize. Posted by Orrin Judd at August 19, 2003 9:12 PM