Google hit by virus-driven traffic; some users see errors
The new attack is sending millions of additional queries to Google, resulting in error messages for some users, virus experts say.
A new version of the MyDoom computer virus that's targeted to attack Internet search engines spread so quickly Monday morning that some Web surfers received error messages when attempting to use Google.com.
The timing of the news was bad for Google, which on Monday announced details of its planned initial public offering. The firm will try to raise up to $3.3 billion in the stock offering.
The new virus also hit the Yahoo, Altavista, and Lycos search engines, according to antivirus firm McAfee.
The attack uses a new technique designed to spread the worm as quickly as possible. It's customary for computer viruses to search an infected computer for e-mail addresses, then send itself to those e-mail addresses in an attempt to spread quickly. The new version of MyDoom goes one step farther: for each domain name it finds on an infected computer, it generates a Google search, then lifts e-mail...
