Computer virus alert – W32/Bugbear.b@MM

Our Ref:

B1/15C
B9/29C

6 June 2003

The Chief Executive
All Authorized Institutions

Dear Sir / Madam,

Computer virus alert - W32/Bugbear.b@MM

This letter aims to draw your attention to a computer virus called W32/Bugbear.b@MM, which was discovered on 4 June 2003.

According to the information gathered by the Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team, the virus contains a list of domain names, some of which belong to banks with presence in Hong Kong, apparently for e-mail forging purposes (please refer to the separate document enclosed). It is reported that the virus is capable of installing keystroke-logging and backdoor programs in the infected machines and terminating the running of various anti-virus and firewall programs. While it is not a usual practice of the HKMA to alert AIs to individual computer viruses, we would like to remind your institution to take appropriate measures against this one. In particular, your institution should update the virus signature files of your anti-virus software.

Your institution is requested to report promptly to the HKMA any material service interruptions caused by computer viruses. This information is useful for the HKMA to assess the impact of any computer viruses on the banking industry as a whole.

If you have any questions on this letter, please feel free to contact Mr. Yat-fai Lam at 28781563 or Mr. Brian Lee at 28781651.

Yours faithfully,

Raymond Li
Executive Director
(Banking Development)

Encl.