“The virus–the latest in a series of increasingly
flamboyant viruses that prey on vulnerabilities in Microsoft
desktop software–is called W32/Mypics.worm and is triggered by the
date Jan. 1, 2000. The worm, limited to Microsoft Outlook and
Internet Explorer users, is received as an email attachment
disguised as a picture.
Once opened, it infects the host computer and attempts to send
itself using Microsoft Outlook to up to 50 people in the users’
address book. It also changes the Home page in Internet Explorer to
a site containing adult content, Symantec warned in an alert sent
out today. Symantec, which discovered the virus, rates this as a
medium to high-risk virus.
But the damage to the unsuspecting user doesn’t truly happen
until Jan. 1, 2000. The virus works by masking as a Y2K problem,
which will prompt users to reboot. When an infected computer is
rebooted, however, the virus will attempt to format the local hard
drives and erase all data, Symantec said.”