About the klez virus

About the Klez Virus

May 2, 2002 - During the past two weeks, we have received a multitude of e-mails from people who have been infected with the "Klez" virus, and most don't know that they sent it to us. We have not been infected with the virus, and so have not sent it to you. However, the virus has been cleverly designed to hide the true sender, so that you cannot be certain who really sent you the virus.

How it works:
When you are infected, this virus sends out emails from your computer to people on your e-mail address list, using another person's email address in the "From:" field. This prevents you from truly knowing who sent you the virus, and so prevents you from writing to the correct person to warn them that they have been infected. The emails that the virus sends out also include a random file from your PC, so that potentially confidential information from your computer is leaked to other persons.

Since many of you have our email address in your address list, this virus may be inserting our email address and sending out emails with virus attachments from your computer. This makes the recipients of these virus-infected e-mails believe they are originating from us - or any one of the other people in your list.

Microsoft Outlook users are particularly susceptible to this bug, as its file does not need to be 'opened' to infect a computer. It can be activated by merely being 'previewed'. The Klez virus also works to deactivate some antivirus products.

Please read through the documentation we have provided below for more information. Also be sure to update your anti-virus software to check for the virus and to remove the virus from your computer.

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