The VBS.Pub is a VBScript and mass mailing virus that infects all the files with .hta, .asp, .htm, .html, .htt, .vbs, or .vbe file extensions. This virus is also able to spread itself to other systems through MS Outlook using the contacts in the user’s system as well as the connected systems in the network. The biggest threat that this virus possesses is that it searches for the mentioned file types on the 6th, 13th, 21st, and 28th of each month. After that, it deletes those files.

This virus affects Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, 2000, and Server 2003. You can receive it in an email with the ‘Re’ subject. When the infected file is executed, the virus is copied by itself to %WINDOWS% folder bearing Pubrn.vbs file name. However, in some cases the file name may be different.

After effects

If your system has infected because of this virus, then you would lose the mentioned file types on the 6th, 13th, 21st, and 28th of each month, which is a very dangerous situation. In addition, it can affect your contacts using MS Outlook and network connections as well.

Resolution

As a precaution for the future, you should use an antivirus application. And you should ensure that the virus definitions of the antivirus are always updated. To perform file recovery of the files deleted by this virus, you should use a third-party file recovery software. Such read-only tools are able to safely recover the permanently deleted files using fast yet sophisticated scanning algorithms.

Tom Patrick is a magazine editor doing research on cd data recovery