Simpsons virus homes in on Macs

Apple users have their very own fast-spreading virus. MacSimpsons (Mac.Simpsons@mm) is an Applescript virus that sends copies of itself to everyone found in the Outlook Express or Entourage address books on an infected Mac computer. MacSimpsons does not delete files, but it will point an infected user's Internet Explorer browser to a legitimate Simpsons episode archive site. MacSimpsons ranks as a 4 on the ZDNet Virus Meter.

MacSimpsons is an AppleScript virus that arrives as an e-mail with the following information:

Subject: Secret Simpsons episodes

Body:

Hundreds of Simpsons episodes were just secretly produced and sent out on the internet, if this message gets to you, the episodes are enclosed on the attachment program, which will only run on a Macintosh. You must have system 9.0 or 9.1 to watch the hilarious episodes, in high quality. Just download and open it. To get random signatures put text files into a folder called "Random Signatures" into your Preferences folder.

Attached AppleScript file: Simpsons Episodes

If a user opens the file, the AppleScript will produce copies of the e-mail and send them to all the addresses found in the infected computer's Outlook Express and Entourage address books. MacSimpsons will also open an infected user's Internet Explorer to The Simpsons Archive: Episode Guide Web site.

A few antivirus software companies have updated their signature files to include MacSimpsons. For more information on removing MacSimpsons from your system, see Symantec, and McAfee.

Is your PC safe? Find out in ZDNet UK's Viruses and Hacking News Section.

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