Blackworm Warning Signs These are some clues that you’ve been sent the worm due to attack February 3, 2006. File attachments used by the worm: WinZip.BHX DSC-00456.plf New_Document_file.plf eBook.pdf eBook.PIF Video_part.mim Atta[001].zip.SCR Attachements001.BHX WinZip.zip.SCR Some subjects used by the worm: Part 1 of 6 Video clips Miss Lebanon 2006 My photos Fwd: image.jpg Fw: Sexy Fw: Real show Fwd: Crazy Illegal Sex!

The 'Blackworm' Virus is a potentially destructive computer virus that is rapidly spreading across the Internet and has already infected somewhere between 300,000 – 700,000 computers according to Internet security experts.

The virus arrives via e-mail and for now only lays dormant waiting to launch—it is expected to launch on February 3, 2006.

Unlike many other recent worms, whose sole mission is to clog up e-mail systems, this one will destroy files, including Microsoft Word documents, Excel spread sheets, Power Point presentations and even PDF and ZIP files, among others.

This virus attempts to disable most antivirus software. I recommend updating antivirus software regularly to stay ahead of threats like this. Any current antivirus program should be ok, since most of them can handle this worm now—the key here is to have it up-to-date. You should also keep your operating system up-to-date. Windows users can do this through the auto-update feature or by going to the Windows Update website: http://update.microsoft.com/. It is also recommended that users do not open suspicious attachments, including those from known senders.