Ok, I was wrong, you're right.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/01/28/mydoom.spreadwed/index.html
Security firm: MyDoom worm fastest yet
Wednesday, January 28, 2004 Posted: 4:41 PM EST (2141 GMT)
CNN) -- The MyDoom virus has become the fastest-spreading virus yet, hitting hardest in the United States and Australia, security firm MessageLabs said Wednesday.
The British firm, which provides security to companies around the globe, had intercepted more than 1.8 million copies of the new mass-mailer worm in 168 countries, a spokesman said.
More than 100,000 copies are being intercepted every hour, he added. One in 12 e-mails handled by MessageLabs was infected with the worm.
Sobig.F, which struck last August and had been regarded as the most devastating virus, had a peak infection ratio of 1 in 17 e-mails.
"MyDoom has surpassed Sobig.F as the fastest spreading mass-mailer ever," said David Banes, MessageLabs' Asia Pacific technical director.
FBI agents are investigating the source of the worm, also known as "W32/Mydoom.A-mm," "Novarg" or "WORM_MIMAIL.R."
And SCO Group, whose site has been bombarded with a Denial of Service attack by MyDoom, offered a $250,000 reward for "information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for this crime."
"The perpetrator of this virus is attacking SCO, but hurting many others at the same time," SCO's head Darl McBride said. "We do not know the origins or reasons for this attack, although we have our suspicions. This is criminal activity and it must be stopped."
The message in MyDoom is sent as a binary attachment. It often arrives in a zip archive of 22,528 bytes and is represented by a text icon even though it is an executable file, which are renowned for carrying viruses.
While the body of the e-mail varies, it usually includes what appears to be an error message, such as: "The message cannot be represented in 7-bit ASCII encoding and has been sent as a binary attachment."
"A text file icon leads people to believe it is innocuous," Banes said.
Sharon Ruckman, the head of anti-virus firm Symantec's security response team, agreed. "This one is almost begging you to click on the attachment," she said.
Banes cautioned e-mail users not to open suspicious attachments in unexpected e-mails as the worm takes over their computer, allowing hackers to use their machine to send out spam.
MyDoom is a mass-mailing worm that attempts to spread via e-mail and by copying itself to any available shared directories used by Web sites such as Kazaa.