# New e-mail worm uses charity e-mail addresses to trick recipients

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2004/01/29/new-email-worm-uses-charity-email-addresses-trick-recipients/
- Published: 2004-01-29T00:00:00+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

The new e-mail worm Mydoom.B which is currently causing problems is replicating 
itself by appearing to come largely from charity and university e-mail addresses.

Mydoom.B, or Novarg, is currently accounting for around 30% of e-mail traffic, according
to Finnish security experts F-Secure. Its rapid spread has been partly due to the
virus writer’s tactic of getting virus-infected e-mails to appear to come from charity
and educational e-mail addresses. This exploits recipients’ trust in such non-profit
institutions. It is the first virus to adopt this approach that UK Fundraising has
come across.

There is not much you can do to stop your charity’s e-mail address being spoofed
in this way. UK Fundraising has received several messages purporting to come from
ourselves with virus infections, so we know our e-mail addresses have been spoofed.
The virus writer has also used seemingly real names to add to domain names, such
as ji*@*********rg.uk, instead of the normal string of letters and numbers before
the @ sign.

The one action you can take to minimise the spread of this virus is to ensure that
you run and update anti-virus software on your Internet-connected PCs. On top of
that you should ensure that your PCs are scanned for trojans, hidden ‘back door’
programmes that enable PCs to be remotely controlled without the user’s knowledge.
Consult your IT adviser or software supplier for further details if this doesn’t
mean much to you.

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