မႀတ္တမ္းမႀတ္ရာ လုပ္ေဆာင္မႁ
'Happy Birthday' virus attacks Burmese opposition computers
Chiang Mai – Computers used by several Burmese opposition groups based on the Thai-Burma border came under attack by a virus widely known as 'Happy Birthday'. About 30 computers in several offices came under attack paralyzing work.
Phanida
March 21, 2008
The act seems to have been engineered deliberately. The virus destroyed the computers in the offices of Burmese pro-democracy activists including the office of the National League for Democracy – Liberated Area, Burma Lawyer's Council, Forum for Democracy in Burma, Yaung Chi Oo labour organization, Mae Tao clinic, Ahlinndan Library, Burmese Women's Union and National Health and Education Committee.
Ko Zan, a Burmese blogger in the Thai-Burmese border town of Mea Sod said, "At least 30 computers came under attack by the virus today. And this 'Happy birthday virus' is really fast in infecting one computer after another."
"It is like somebody has purposely directed the attack," he added.
According to the blogger, the virus is usually transmitted from external memory sticks including thumb drives, CDs and external hard disks. After the virus silently enters the computers, it shows a popup message on the screen saying 'Happy Birthday' and the computer will fail to reboot.
Similar virus threats were detected last month in Rangoon, when a few desktop publishers and photo printers complained of being unable to use their computers after the virus attack.