Happy 99 Virus

We wanted to point this out directly to our customers. Our Customer Support people as well as our webmaster have received several copies of the Happy99 virus sent to us via email attachments. We do have our LAN protected against this kind of thing, but we wanted everyone who sends us Email to check out their systems for it, as we have gotten quite a few emails with this virus attached to them lately. The Happy 99 virus is one that is automatically sent without the sender's knowledge, and here's some information on it.

This is a worm virus that is sent from the infected computer to any one that is sent Email. (This is not a Joke) Happy99.exe was first identified around mid-January and is now traveling across the Internet via e-mail attachments and newsgroup postings. The worm modifies e-mails and newsgroup postings by adding unauthorized attachments without the computer user's knowledge. As a side-effect, it can also create network slowdowns and, in a worst-case scenario, even crash corporate e-mail servers. While the computer worm does not destroy or alter files or otherwise cripple computers and networks, it creates a time- and energy-consuming nuisance to network administrators.

The computer worm works on Windows 95 and 98 platforms.

Happy99.exe is classified as a computer worm for its ability for self-replication. It arrives to a computer via an e-mail or newsgroup attachment, infecting machines that run the attachment. If the computer user runs the unauthorized attachment, Happy99.exe puts up an attractive fireworks display, which the computer user might mistake for a good-looking accessory to the message. However, while the fireworks burst on-screen, the computer worm modifies the winsock32.dll file in order to monitor what e-mails and postings are made from the machine. All Internet access goes through the wsock32.dll file. Afterwards, Happy99.exe spams the newsgroup or e-mail recipient with copies of itself any time the computer user tries to send a message across cyberspace.

We urge you to check our your system for instances of this virus, and eradicate it if you can. Please check with your virus checker software to make sure you are totally up to date and can track down and eliminate this virus. If you don't have any virus software, you should use one something - and keep it updated!

Posted by Joe Siegler on March 17, 1999 at 1:00 PM | Permalink
News Categories: Misc