WASHINGTON, Nov 22: A scam involving e-mails appearing to come from the FBI or CIA has unleashed a computer virus that is spreading rapidly worldwide, US officials and security experts said on Tuesday.
The FBI released a statement on its website noting that the agency was not the source of the e-mails. But experts said that the virus was propagating because the authors made the message appear authentic.
The FBI statement said recipients of this or similar messages “should know that the FBI does not engage in the practice of sending unsolicited e-mails to the public in this manner.”
The messages appear to be sent from an e-mail address such as mail@fbi.gov, post@fbi.gov, admin@fbi.gov or a similar address, and direct the recipient to open an attachment to answer question. The opening of the file activates the virus and causes it to spread to others.
The Internet security firm Sophos said similar e-mails may appear to come from the Central Intelligence Agency, but it noted that both contain a strain of the Sober virus that has been spreading worldwide.
In a four-hour period Tuesday, the worm “has accounted for over 61 percent of all viruses reported to Sophos, making it currently the most prevalent virus spreading across the world.”
“Every law-abiding citizen wants to help the police with their enquiries, and some will panic that they might be being falsely accused of visiting illegal websites and want to click on the unsolicited e-mail attachment. All users should be reminded to follow safe computing guidelines, and PCs should be kept automatically updated with the latest anti-virus protection,” the statement said.—AFP
