Security experts are also speculating that the real reason behind the launch of the virus is not so much to wreak havoc on the global Internet economy, but to set the foundation for an extensive underground spam marketing campaign.
The first known variant of the virus, also known as Novarg and Shimgapi, comes with a Feb. 1 attack date against the SCO Group website, a company that claims to own the copyright to the Linux operating system.
Via an attachment or a download from a file-sharing service like Kazaa, MyDoom installs a program that directs infected computers to launch a 'denial-of-service' attack against specific websites.
MyDoom first made an appearance on Monday and immediately became known as the fastest, most prolific computer virus in history, infecting an estimated 100 million emails in the first 36 hours of its launch. By Wednesday, security experts had traced a second variant of the worm, MyDoom.B, this one aimed at launching an attack against Microsoft's corporate website.
Microsoft's bounty, combined with a bounty issued earlier this week by SCO Group, brings the reward for the capture of MyDoom's author to half a million dollars.
It is estimated that at present, one in five emails are carrying either version A or B of MyDoom.
Microsoft's bid is part of a $5 million initiative the software maker started in 2003 to aid the FBI and other agencies in their search for the writers of destructive Internet and email viruses. In November 2003, Microsoft issued a similar bounty for the authors of the Blaster and SoBig viruses.
The combination of Microsoft's and SCO's bids makes the bounty against MyDoom one of the highest in recent history.
Security experts are now saying there is an 80 percent likelihood that MyDoom originated in Russia where a Russian security lab claims to have traced the very first emails infected with the virus. The present theory is that the virus was created by a high-level group of Russian computer programmers. However some security experts are saying that the Russian connection could be just a decoy.
In the meantime, experts are saying that MyDoom will continue its destructive course until its Feb. 12 due date and there is very little that can be done to stop it.
