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London (pte049/06.02.2003/21:41) - The plot thickened last week for devotees of the BBC radio soap opera The Archers, when the broadcaster confessed to have accidentally propagated the Sobig worm, allowing it to
crawl across listeners' e-mail address lists.
The relatively benign intruder guises itself as a file attachment that, when opened, attempts to subvert recipients' address books and reproduce among its entries. According to ZDNet and anti-virus manufacturer Sophos, subscribers to the Archers' e-newsletter formed much of the victim population.
Sophos consultant Graham Cluely notes Sobig was easily repulsed by current anti-virus iterations, once users took pains to update their software defenses. Still, he adds, "It has had quite a big impact...indeed it was the fourth most prevalent virus during January 2003." Its From: field always identifies the sender as big@boss.com
The Archers, transmitted both on radio and the internet, purports to be the world's longest-running radio drama. E-mail summaries on the latest narrative twists are issued daily.
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