MacComedy

Yet another virus slips past the software monopoly

The anthrax virus was discovered at Microsoft’s licensing offices in Carson City, Nevada. Add this to the list of the 7,653 other viruses that have gotten by Microsoft in the past, and you have a long list of viruses.

“This virus apparently was attached to some pornography sent to the company from a computer user in Malaysia,” according to Purdue computer security expert Eugene Spafford. “You open the porn and unleash the anthrax.”

This virus, like so many others, appears to only affect Windows users. It’s still unclear whether it’s a hole in Outlook Express or one of the 65,364 security holes in the “operating system” itself.

Merely opening an e-mail with the virus attached does not guarantee infection. But for those who do become infected, the damage can be great.

“This virus has the ability to actually kill someone,” said Spafford, “which is really rare in a computer virus.”

Other places known to have had the virus sent to them include NBC, ABC, CBS, a newspaper in Florida, and the United States Senate. All of these places are believed to be running Microsoft Windows systems.