Swiss Bank Giant UBS Hit by LoveBug Strain

Aug. 17 -- A new variation of the “Love Bug” computer virus is targeting the Swiss banking giant, United Bank of Switzerland.

No damage from it has been reported yet, and only a small part of its online customers are at risk, the bank said in a statement. Anti-virus software filters activated by UBS specialists stopped the spread of the virus at the bank, it said.

UBS, one of the largest banks in the world, said it is stillunclear who was responsible for the virus, a variant of theoriginal Love Letter virus that circulated in May, wreaking havoc on millions of computers worldwide. But the bank said it is preparing legal action against whoever was behind the recent attack.

Today Kasperksy Lab, the Moscow-based IT security company, is warning that the new LoveBug strain is resurfacing in Russia and Switzerland, “with a vengeance,” according to SecurityFocus.com, a site devoted to security topics.

New Strain vs. Original Virus

The original virus struck computers in early May, coyly seducing computer users around the world to click on the “ILOVEYOU” attachment while maliciously unleashing a virus that shut down e-mail systems in businesses and government agencies worldwide

Like its predecessor, the new virus strain is disguised as an e-mail enticing readers to open it. This time, RESUME.TXT shows up as the name of the attached file. Previous variations’ headers include “ILOVEYOU,” “FWD: JOKE,” “Mother’s Day Order Confirmation,” “Important! Read carefully!!” “Virus ALERT!!!” “Recent Virus Attacks-Fix.”

There have been unconfirmed reports that this virus may also be received masquerading as a job offer from a company named Stuart Atkinson, complete with Web and e-mail addresses, according to iDEFENSE Intelligence Services, an intelligence company based in Fairfax, Va.

A user must double-click on or open the attachment in order for the virus to work. Once launched, it appears to open the attached resume in the Notepad program, which is bundled with all versions of Microsoft’s Windows. It also hijacks Microsoft’s Outlooke-mail program and attempts to send itself out to every e-mail address contained in the address book.