Attached Link: http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.badtrans.b@mm.html

I only rarely get virus alerts from my email, but in the last few days I've had a large number of them for W32.Badtrans.B@mm (see the link for info on this very nasty trojan/worm). Apparently, some idiot made a new variant, so be sure your virus defs are current or it may slip by. As always, be very wary of opening attachements even if they come from someone you know (this things can send themselves out through their mailbox so you think its "safe" to view).

I have recieved a couple of mails containing this virus. It only affects Microsoft Outlook users. If you are using another e-mail client, you just delete the mail and you are safe. Netscape users will notice that the attachment containing the virus is not even visible as an attachment, so they can't even open it and cause any harm. A friend using Outlook got this virus in his system, and it does cause a lot of problems, but fortunately it's easy to clean off your system by following the intructions you find on the link provided by scifuguy above. This is a malicious virus, but easy to avoid with the usual rule: Don't open e-mail attachment you dont trust!!

Someone wrote me this morning, warning me about this virus and thought it came from me, because it had my name attached to it, it didn't come from me because the virus was not on my machine, symantec checked it with me, just this morning, so some people may think they have it, symantec said that even if you don't have it, run the scan from safe mode, go look for it in the registry and even if you don't have it you at least protected yourself by updating. Sharen

Our firewall at the company i work blocked it several times this morning and deleted the infected mails. SHARKEY

Now let me understand this, does it infect incoming mail, outgoing mail, or does it come as an attachment, and after you open the attachment it infects everything then? I never open attachments unless I absolutely know where it is coming from. Sharen

In the case at our office it where all the times word attachments from our company in hungaria. SHARKEY

It arrives as a mail attachment, infects your system files, installs a keystroke tracking trojan horse program (for instance, this lets it grab your logins and passwords as you type them), then replicates itself through your address book and mails itself out to everyone in it. I see nothing in the alert that indicates it ONLY infects Outlook users, only that it can run automatically in (unpatched) Outlook by taking advantage of an already known exploit (you should always be sure Outlook has all available patches installed if you use Outlook--this exploit was patched quite a while ago). Otherwise, it appears that if you open the attachment and use Windows you can be infected because it seeks out files in your Windows folder, not just your mail program.

You are correct, scifiguy, of course it can infect any computer, not only computers running Outlook. However, it was believed when it was first spread around that it will only distribute itself through address books in Outlook, but that might be proven wrong. Anyway, everyone must be careful when receiving suspicious e-mail attachments, regardless of which e-mail client they use. The files containing the virus alway shas one of the following extensions: .pif .scr Therefore it's quite easy to spot it just by looking at the file name. It is also easy to filter out form a corporate mail server just by deleting all incoming mails with attachments with these file extensions.

Geesh I hate this one!! I have received this freakin' thing almost 20 x's now this week! Stupid stooopid hackers trying to destroy the poorr computers.... grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Actually, it is not the hackers, it is the crackers....they are the ones that try to wreek problems with others....they do keep us on our toes. Sharen