Britney Virus May Drive You Crazy

A new virus that uses the sex appeal of pop star Britney Spears to lure users may pose a threat to the Internet, despite a so-far low profile.

The virus, known alternately as "VBS/Britney-A" or "VBS_BRITNEYPIC.A," arrives in users' E-mail in-boxes with the subject line "Britney Pics" and an attachment that purports to be pictures of the teen idol, but which in fact is a viral load. Users who open the file in Microsoft Outlook infect their hard drives with the virus, which then attempts to send itself to every person in the users' address books.

Antivirus companies including McAfee.com Corp. and Trend Micro Inc. have given the virus a low threat rating, and so far, few copies have been spotted in the wild. But security experts are urging users to be wary, since they think Britney's charms may cause users to ignore their normal security precautions.

In May, the "Anna Kournikova" E-mail worm shut down E-mail servers worldwide using the same prurient trick. "It's worked in the past," says Chris Wraight, a technology consultant with antivirus company Sophos. "The sad thing is that sex does sell."