worm infects

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, world's most popular e-mail, hit by worm Tue Jun 13, 1:48 AM

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LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news), the world's

largest provider of e-mail services, said on Monday that a software

virus aimed at Mail users had infected " a very small fraction "

of its base of more than 200 million accounts.

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The e-mail virus, or worm, has been dubbed Yamanner and landed in

mailboxes bearing the headline " New Graphic Site. " Once

opened, the message infects the computer and spreads to other users

listed in users' e-mail address books, security experts said.

The e-mail containing the virus need only be opened -- in contrast

to most worms that are hidden in attachments and require users to

take an additional step -- to release the virus, according to

computer security site Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq:SYMC - news).

The Sunnyvale, California-based company advised users to update

virus and firewall software on their computers and to block any e-

mail sent from the address " av3@.... "

" We have taken steps to resolve the issue and protect our users from

further attacks of this worm, " spokeswoman Kelley Podboy said

in a statement.

" When we learn of e-mail abuse, such as a worm or other online

threat, we take appropriate action, " she said. " (A) solution has

been automatically distributed to all Mail customers, and

requires no additional action on the part of the user. "

Yamanner, first detected by and major computer anti-virus

software makers earlier on Monday, was ranked as having a low threat

level by Trend Micro Inc. (Nasdaq:TMIC - news) and McAfee Inc.

(NYSE:MFE - news)

But Symantec considers the worm an " elevated threat, " one step up

from the lowest ranking in terms of relative danger.

Symantec's Security Response site suggested Mail users might

protect themselves by upgrading to the latest test version of the

recently upgraded Mail software.

" The worm cannot run on the newest version of Mail Beta, "

Symantec's site said.

A spokesman was not immediately available to comment on

whether the company advised users to do this.

The worm exploits a vulnerability in Javascript technology used to

make the mail program easier to use by triggering embedded HTML

scripts to run in the computer user's browser.

The e-mail addresses are also sent to a remote online computer

server, which may be used to run spam campaigns, experts said. The

technical name of the worm goes by variants of " JS.Yamanner. "