The threat of the Babylonia virus has diminished now that an Internet site it used to update itself has been shut down. The virus, which appeared Monday , relied on the site to store software that could be downloaded to the infected computer, raising the possibility of a virus whose behavior changes. The Web site is owned by Source of Kaos, TrendMicro said. A virus is a piece of software that spreads copies of itself from one computer to another.
Some viruses are benign but others cause damage such as the destruction of files.
The widespread use of email, combined with the use of more elaborate email messages, has provided an effective new means for viruses to spread. Although antivirus companies provide software features that claim to detect viruses by their behavior, many new viruses still slip under the radar, requiring that customers update their antivirus software frequently. Meanwhile, a new version of an existing self-replicating email virus has been discovered, but it has yet to cause major problems, antivirus software makers said. The virus, a variant of the Worm. ExploreZip virus called Worm.