Anna Kournikova virus

E183325

The Anna Kournikova virus is a famous early-2000s email worm that spread by tricking users into opening a malicious attachment supposedly containing photos of tennis star Anna Kournikova.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Anna Kournikova virus canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf computer worm
email worm
malware
mass‑mailing worm
attachmentFileName AnnaKournikova.jpg.vbs
author Jan de Wit
authorAgeAtCreation 20
authorNationality Dutch
category celebrity‑themed malware
social engineering attack
causesDataDestruction false
createdUsing VBSWG worm generator
virus‑writing toolkit
detectionByAntivirus true
doesNotExploit operating system vulnerabilities
emailBodyTextIncludes Hi: Check This!
fileExtension .vbs
firstAppearedInYear 2001
firstDetectedInCountry Netherlands
firstDetectedInMonth February 2001
hasAlternativeName VBS.SST@mm
VBS_KALAMAR.A
inspiredBy ILOVEYOU worm
legalOutcomeForAuthor convicted in the Netherlands
legalSentenceForAuthor community service
masqueradesAs picture of Anna Kournikova
mediaDescription famous early‑2000s email worm using Anna Kournikova photos as lure
mitigationMethod up‑to‑date antivirus software
user education about suspicious attachments
notableFor highlighting risks of email attachments
use of celebrity image to entice users
wide media coverage in early 2000s
payloadType mass‑mailing
primaryEffect can overload mail servers
generates high email traffic
sends copies of itself to email contacts
propagationMethodDetail reads Outlook address book and mails itself
propagationRequires user to run the script attachment
requiresUserAction opening the attachment
spreadVia email
malicious email attachment
subjectLineUsed Here you have, ;o)
targetEmailClient Outlook
surface form: Microsoft Outlook
targetPlatform Windows
surface form: Microsoft Windows
timePeriod early 2000s
usesSocialEngineeringTheme Anna Kournikova
celebrity photos
writtenIn VBScript

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

VBScript notableMalware Anna Kournikova virus