WARNING!!!

(Sorry if this is a repeat message)

If you get a message with subject "ILOVEYOU", please DELETE it immediately.
Do
not open or preview this message. "ILOVEYOU" is a new computer virus and it
is
spreading very quickly. "ILOVEYOU" comes as an email attachment.

It is possible to spread the "ILOVEYOU" virus by just previewing the
message
which contains the virus in Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express. You have
your
preview window on if your inbox screen is divided into thirds, and the
bottom
right third shows the text of the message. Turn off the email preview pane
as
the virus can spread as soon as it is viewed.

To close the preview pane in Outlook 2000

Go to View and click on "Preview Pane".

To close the preview pane in Outlook Express 5

Go to View/Layout. Make sure the box next to "Show Preview Pane" is
unchecked.
Click OK to save your changes.

We have also been informed that the "ILOVEYOU" virus has mutated into a
message
with the subject "fwd: Joke" and the attachment's name is "Very Funny.vbs".
Please deal with "fwd: Joke" the same way you would "ILOVEYOU".

Thanks,
Sierra Club Postmaster

=======================================================================
Here is some more info from the Washington Post on the "ILOVEYOU" virus.

To view the entire article, go to
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3677-2000May4.html

'ILOVEYOU' Bug Hits Computers

Compiled from Staff and Wire Reports
Thursday , May 4, 2000

A computer virus spread by e-mail messages titled "ILOVEYOU" infected
computers worldwide Thursday. The Pentagon and businesses in
Washington were hit along with investment banks in Asia, and the
parliament in Britain.

The new virus originates in an e-mail entitled "ILOVEYOU." Once the
attachment, which is named LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.txt is launched, the
virus sends copies of the same e-mail to everybody listed in the
user's address book, blocking people's ability to send and receive
e-mail.

Anti-virus firm Symantec said it had already released an update to its
software to combat the virus, but warned computer users not to open
any "ILOVEYOU" messages.

Susan Hansen, a Defense Department spokeswoman for the Pentagon, said
the virus hit the Pentagon this morning, but she said she is unsure
how widespread it is.

"I've seen a few of them that have come through here in the (public
affairs) department, but other than that, I haven't opened them and
don't have a lot of information," she said.

Hansen said she got about 10 of the e-mails, all from colleagues in
public affairs. "Evidently someone must have gotten it, but whether
it's localized or whether it's through the department, I don't know."

The Melissa virus, which last year infected about a million computers
in the United States causing $80 million in damage, operated on the
same principle.

Much like the Melissa virus, the "ILOVEYOU" virus targets users of
Microsoft's Outlook e-mail program. Hidden in an e-mail attachment,
the worm virus replicates if the message is opened and prompts Outlook
to send infected messages to every user in the mail program's address
book.

Unlike Melissa, however, the virus also appears to corrupt the
Internet Explorer browser. If the attachment is opened, the virus
modifies the browser's start-up page to tap into four Web sites
through which it attempts to open a file. If successful, the virus
will then modify the registry of the victim's computer and rename some
files. It can alter files on shared drives.

"It's not pretty," said Wilson, the Singapore-based Southeast Asia
director of Symantec, a U.S.-based company that makes anti-virus
software. "It's got the capability of spreading very, very quickly."

The virus appeared in Hong Kong late in the afternoon, spreading
throughout e-mail systems once a user opened one of the contaminated
messages.

Nomura International Ltd. in Hong Kong was affected, an analyst there
said, as was Nomura's London office. In Asia, Dow Jones Newswires and
the Asian Wall Street Journal were among the victims.

"It crashed all the computers," said Daphne Ghesquiere, a Dow Jones
spokeswoman in Hong Kong. "You get the message and the topic says
ILOVEYOU, and I was among the stupid ones to open it. I got about five
at one time and I was suspicious, but one was from Dow Jones
Newswires, so I opened it."

Once the message was opened, Ghesquiere said, it began sending the
virus to other e-mail addresses within the Dow Jones computers,
blocking people's ability to send and receive e-mail. Victims
sometimes received dozens of e-mails, all contaminated.

"I have no idea how it got through the firewall," Ghesquiere said.
"It's supposed to be protected."

The virus was spreading in Europe as well. In Denmark, the parliament,
telecommunications company Tele Danmark, channel TV2 and the
Environment and Energy Ministry were all affected starting this
morning.

"We have no clue how it got in," said Hugo Praestegaard of the
Environment and Energy Ministry.

London's House of Commons was the latest UK organization to succumb to
the virus.

Credit Suisse First Boston issued a global e-mail memo warning
employees not to open the messages, said company official Tom Grimmer
in Hong Kong. He said the virus had not infiltrated the investment
bank's computer system.

The virus reportedly originated in the Philippines and has also been
nicknamed the "Killer from Manila," but anti-virus experts do not hold
out much hope that the culprit who created it will be found. The virus
comes from an e-mail address [log in to unmask] It also declares "I
hate to go to school."

c 2000 Washington Post Newsweek Interactive

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