Slim, seductive, and all of 19 years old. That’s Anna Kournikova for you. As popular on innumerable desktops as she is on the tennis courts.
Her name is currently being used to sell more than just footwear or lingerie. It’s now an email virus, masquerading a photograph of the teen tennis star, ready to attack the naïve who open it without a second thought.
Also known as VBS/SST, VBS_Kalamar, and VBS/OnTheFly, the worm first appeared in Europe in August 2000 under the name ‘Kalamar’ before spreading to the US overnight via European Internet news groups. The lure it uses is an attachment called ‘AnnaKournikova.jpg.vbs.’
Needless to say, this sort of enticement from someone who puts the ‘S’ in sexual, makes rough hands grab the mouse eagerly. One click and the file opens, causing the worm to automatically spread to all email addresses in the user’s address book. There are no other adverse effects apart from a possible ‘mail storm’ that could bring down servers.
But despite there being no major damage, lets be in no hurry to write off this virus. Here's an interesting viewpoint of how the Anna Kournikova virus could be the the first of what may become a brand new viro-type--the vanity virus! 
In a recent interview, the creator of the virus who calls himself ‘OnTheFly’ said that while he regretted writing it, he did it to prove that people had not learned anything from previous e-mail worms. Good enough reason? Yeah, right.
Here’s where you can read the interview, and here's the man's 'official' Web site.
How does it work? The virus uses Visual Basic to infect Windows systems and then moves on to Outlook where it mails itself to your entire address book. Experts warn that it may be more widespread than Melissa, but not as serious as the last recent threat: the famous ‘I Love You’ Bug.
How was it created? Simply by working on variants of an existing program called the Vbs Worms Generator (VBSWG 1.50b), a tool that originated in Argentina. Since it’s a standalone application, the bad news is that even newbies with hardly any programming skills can use it to devastating effect. While those using updated anti-virus software are safe, the spread of these worms has more to do with the stupidity of users.
Not that they can be blamed, really. After all, if you get a message with subject lines like: ‘Here you are ;-),’ ‘here you have ;o)’ and ‘here you go ;-),’ it’s only seasoned surfers who usually play it safe.
Despite the use of few subject lines, network administrators can’t filter out the virus easily because it uses encryption, making detection a lot harder. The worm is also, according to some, scheduled to connect to a Dutch computer shopping site called Dynabyte every January 26.
Enough of the bad news. How does one go about protection? Firstly, it’s important to download Microsoft’s Outlook Security Patch. Next, turn off Windows Scripting Host.
Then, don’t open attachments, even if they come from known sources, and always scan attached files first. Get the latest in anti-virus software, and make sure it’s updated constantly. Also, scanning your system regularly doesn’t hurt.
Lastly, keeping in mind the fact that there are virus and security alerts almost daily, it would help to check out Viruses, Bugs, Security Alerts first thing every morning. Lots more help can be found here
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Anna Kournikova Photographs
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