When people were hit by LoveLetter, they didn't notice it until they were contacted by people who they had sent the virus to. With NewLove, your computer crashes immediately and you loose your files. It's difficult to miss that. However, it will destroy files when the attachment is opened in another program if the computer is running the Windows 98 or Windows 2000 operating systems, or has Internet Explorer 5.0 installed under Windows 95. Trend Micro's Perry said he hoped that increased awareness among e-mail users would hold back the spread of the new virus.
People tend to be a little more cautious.
The larger size of this virus's attachments are more likely to crash e-mail servers, experts said. The relatively simple virus was followed some hours later by slightly modified variants, posing as jokes or confirmations on Mother's Day gifts. None of the variants were very widespread. Microsoft has said that it will make available a modification to Outlook next week that will warn users about suspect e-mail attachments. E-mail this story to a friend.