Fan 'confesses' to Kournikova virus

Kournikova is a popular internet search term

Investigators are following up two leads to the identity of the source of the Anna Kournikova computer virus that has clogged e-mail systems around the world.

A self-confessed fan of the tennis star using the name OnTheFly blamed e-mail users themselves for getting infected.

I never wanted to harm the people who opened the attachment... but after all, it's their own fault

On The Fly's 'confession'

Security experts say they are uncertain of the authenticity of OnTheFly who said the motivation for the act was "She [Kournikova] deserves some attention, doesn't she??".

In a separate development, the Excite (at) Home computer network said it had traced the origin of the virus to one of its subscribers.

The network said it was trying to find out if the account holder wrote the virus or if the person merely used the account to spread the virus.

Excite spokesperson Alison Bowman said: "We're looking at the situation and determining what action to take."

Rapid spread

Earlier, Dutch officials said no investigation was planned.

The virus quickly spread worldwide

"We have no indication that it was started here," said Wim de Bruijn, spokesman for the National Public Prosecutor's office. "If any indications arise pointing to the Netherlands, then we will look into them."

The virus arrives as an e-mail attachment named "AnnaKournikova.jpg.vbs" and carries the message "Hi: Check This!"

When users click on the attachment, hoping to see a photo of the 19-year-old tennis player, it activates a virus that attempts to send itself to all the people in the user's e-mail address book.

The average guy was going to be too tempted not to open it up

April Goostree, virus researcher

The virus spread rapidly on Monday, slowing down e-mail systems and forcing some companies to shut down e-mail altogether. The outbreak was largely contained by Tuesday.

Virus experts say the bogus mail messages caused the biggest outbreak since the ILoveYou virus was released in the Philippines last May, causing tens of millions of dollars in damage worldwide.

Tempting offer

In the Kournikova confession, On The Fly - an admirer of the tennis star - said he or she was no programming expert, and had used a virus-writing tool downloadable from the internet.

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"I have made this virus with a Visual Basic Worm Generator," the author wrote. "I have been using this because I don't know any programming languages."

Experts say it is not technical ingenuity but "social engineering" skills that separate the successful from the unsuccessful virus creator.

Last year a virus was able to infect corporations by disguising itself a CV of a job applicant which unsuspecting employees would send on to human resources staff, said McAfee.com's April Goostree. She said the promised photo of Anna Kournikova worked in a similar way.

"It had the hook," she said. "The average guy was going to be too tempted not to open it up."