CLEARWATER - A new computer virus spread across the Internet on Monday, July 19. Named W32.Beagle.AG@mm; it is a mass-mailing worm that spreads itself as an email attachment from infected machines.
Symantec Corporation and other anti-virus software developers discovered the virus on July 19, but not before its widespread distribution, leaving many Windows-based computers vulnerable to the attack. DOS, Linux, Macintosh, Novell Netware, OS/2, UNIX, and Windows 3.x systems are not affected.
Infected email messages can be identified by their subject line of "Re:". The originator of the email is spoofed and can appear to be anyone, even someone you know. The infected file attachment has one of the following names: Cat, Cool_MP3, Dog, Doll, Fish, Garry, MP3, Music_MP3, or New_MP3_Player. If you receive such a message, delete it from your inbox, making sure that you do not open the infected attachment.
If your computer becomes infected by this virus, a removal tool can be downloaded from the Symantec website by clicking here.
There are several practices you can follow to avoid future virus infections. Do not open email attachments unless you are expecting them. Also, do not execute software that is downloaded from the Internet unless it has been scanned for viruses. And finally, keep your virus definitions up to date using the tools provided by the vendor of your anti-virus software.