          
|
|
News Release Symantec Protects Users Against VBS.LoveLetter.A VBS.LoveLetter. A Definitions Immediately Available from Symantec via LiveUpdate and Internet Download CUPERTINO, Calif. - May 4, 2000 - Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) today announced availability of the virus definition to detect, repair and protect users against the VBS.LoveLetter.A virus. This definition is available now via Symantecıs LiveUpdate and can also be downloaded from the following web sites:
"Viruses like VBS.LoveLetter.A that are replicated through Internet applications such as e-mail and chat pose a great threat to companies and individuals because they can rapidly spread through organizations and around the world. To contain this and other self propagated attachments, we encourage corporations and individuals to immediately update their virus definitions and update them regularly to ensure they are protected," said Ron Moritz, Symantec's chief technical officer. "As these types of Internet borne viruses become more common, a multiple line virus defense strategy becomes critical. Corporations and Internet service providers can provide their customers protection at the gateway before the infected e-mail even enters the user's in-box. At the same time, to maximize protection, we recommend users have anti-virus on their desktop to ensure their systems are maintained virus free." The VBS.LoveLetter.A is an Internet worm that uses Microsoft Outlook to e-mail itself as an attachment. The subject line of the e-mail reads "ILOVEYOU," with the attachment titled "Love-Letter-For-You.TXT.vbs." Once the attachment is opened, the virus replicates and sends an e-mail to all e-mail addresses listed in the address book. The virus also spreads itself via Internet relay chat and infects files on local and remote drives including files with extensions vbs, vbe, js, sje, css, wsh, sct, hta, jpg, jpeg, mp3, mp2. Users should exercise caution when opening e-mails with this subject line, even if the e-mail is from someone they know, as that is how the virus is spread. Symantec's AntiVirus Research Center began receiving reports regarding this worm early morning on May 4, 2000 GMT. This worm appears to originate from the Asia Pacific region. Distribution of the virus is widespread and hundreds of thousands of machines are reported infected.
Symantec Antivirus Research Center:
About Symantec NOTE TO EDITORS: : If you would like additional information on Symantec Corporation and its products, please view the Symantec Press Center at http://www.symantec.com/PressCenter/ on Symantec's Web site. All prices noted are in US dollars and are valid only in the United States. Symantec, the Symantec logo, VERITAS, and the VERITAS logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Symantec Corporation or its affiliates in the United States and certain other countries. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of the individual companies and are respectfully acknowledged. FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENT: This press release contains forward-looking statements. There are certain important factors that could cause Symantec's future development efforts to differ materially from those anticipated by some of the statements made above. Among these are the anticipation of the growth of certain market segments, the positioning of Symantec's products in those segments, the competitive environment in the software industry, new security threats, dependence on other products, changes to operating systems and product strategy by vendors of operating systems, and the importance of new Symantec products. Additional information concerning those and other factors is contained in the "Risk Factors" section of the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended April 2, 1999.
Press Center
|