Warner Bros has recalled a virus-infected DVD featuring hot new cartoon stars, the Powerpuff Girls.

The disc is called Meet the Beat Alls and contains the FunLove Virus. Once installed onto a PC the virus attempts to infect files held on the local hard drive as well as network directories.

So how did FunLove end up on the Powerpuff Girls DVD in the first place? The most likely explanation is that
the machine of one of the developers who worked on the disc was infected by the virus, a ccording Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos Anti-Virus. As a result, either a screensaver or an executable file of the DVD became infected with FunLove, allowing the infection to spread.

The FunLove virus stopped production at Dell for two days in November 1999 Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft have also fallen victim to the virus. Even though it is easy to protect against and is not particularly damaging, FunLove is tricky to root out if infection takes hold. Once a network is infected, FunLove can automatically spread between all connected PCs. It also allows all users unrestricted file access.

Warner Bros has recalled all versions of the DVD in countries where it is distributed, which doesn't include the UK (even though the Powerpuff Girls appear on Saturday morning TV here). Anybody who has bought the DVD is advised to return it. ®

External links

Write up on FunLove by Sophos
The Powerpuff girls

Related Stories

Tweenies can't sing and dance on WinXP
WinXP on the wall, who's the most incompatible of them all?
Fun Loving Criminals torpedo Dell factory
HP distributes virus infected drivers
Microsoft security fixes infected with FunLove virus