The latest variant of the virus, MyDoom.F, deletes Microsoft Word and Excel files on a victim machine’s hard drive and other images and videos. According to research and analysis firm Netcraft (netcraft.com), the MyDoom.F variant is similar to its predecessors, opening a backdoor on the victim machine. It also possesses its own SMTP engine, spreads through email attachments and is programmed to launch denial of service attacks (DoS) against Web sites. The latest variant is programmed to launch attacks against Microsoft.com and riaa.com, the Web site for the Recording Industry Association of America.
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MyDoom.B attacked Microsoft and the original virus launched an attack against SCO.
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The virus has not been able to bring down the Microsoft and RIAA sites, but according to a report by Reuters, access to the RIAA Web site was slightly hampered today.
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SCO and Microsoft are known to be favorite targets of the open source community. The RIAA is heavily involved in efforts to combat online music piracy.
