Mylife (computer worm)
MyLife, discovered by MessageLabs in 2002,[1][2] is a computer worm that spreads itself by sending email to the addresses found in Microsoft Outlook's contacts list. Written in Visual Basic, it displays an image of a girl holding a flower while it attempts to delete files with certain filename extensions. It is named for a phrase appearing in the subject lines of the emails it sends. A variant, MyLife.B, also called the Bill Clinton worm, instead uses a subject line "bill caricature" and displays a cartoon image of Bill Clinton playing a saxophone.[3][4] Many[5] additional variants have been reported.[6][7][8] When the infected file is run, and the picture is closed, the worm runs its payload. MyLife checks the current date. If the minute value is higher or at 45 (For example: 11:45 to 11:59), the worm searches the C:\ directory and deletes .SYS files, .COM files and the same in D:\ Drives.[9]
References
- W32.MyLife@mm, Symantec, updated February 13, 2007.
- MyLife Worm, About.com.
- W32.MyLife.B, About.com.
- Virus alert: Beware Bill Clinton worm. Computer Weekly, March 22, 2002.
- M(N) variant screenshots Archived 2008-07-25 at the Wayback Machine
- MyLife variant viruses spawned over Easter, ZDNet, April 2, 2002.
- Undead virus infects the dim-witted, The Register, April 2, 2002.
- A new form of computer worm may slip past antivirus scanners, Wall Street Journal, April 26, 2002.
- "Email-Worm.Win32.Mylife". YouTube. January 9, 2012.