Lookout for this Virus

[gwpriester]

If you receive a message from someone you do not know and the message says something to the effect of, Hello, how are you doing? Please take a look at this file, unless you have up-to-date virus protection, delete the message. Especially if the attachment has an extension you do not recognize.

Some people probably think damaging someone's computer and causing the loss of all his files is funny. I'm not sure what the motivation is, but suffice it to say, this is the most cowardly way of conflict resolution.

If there is such a thing as Karma, I can only hope the senders of these infected files get an itch in a place they cannot scratch.

Gary

Gary Priester

Moderator Person

Bleats Trevor a Mumble

[This message was edited by Gary W. Priester on July 23, 2001 at 05:05.]

[gwpriester]

If you receive a message from someone you do not know and the message says something to the effect of, Hello, how are you doing? Please take a look at this file, unless you have up-to-date virus protection, delete the message. Especially if the attachment has an extension you do not recognize.

Some people probably think damaging someone's computer and causing the loss of all his files is funny. I'm not sure what the motivation is, but suffice it to say, this is the most cowardly way of conflict resolution.

If there is such a thing as Karma, I can only hope the senders of these infected files get an itch in a place they cannot scratch.

Gary

Gary Priester

Moderator Person

Bleats Trevor a Mumble

[This message was edited by Gary W. Priester on July 23, 2001 at 05:05.]

[a4hire]

to hear about this Gary. I have recieved several of those same messages to my email account. Fotunately I never open emails or attachments from people I do not know. I also heard about this worm at work. We always get announcements at work about the latest viruses. This is a worm . It will delete files on your hard drive. If you don't have Norton anitvirus or some other virus protection beware. There is information on this virus and how to deal with it at the symantec web site.
http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/ven...m.worm@mm.html

[Soquili]

Gary, you make an important point about regularly updating virus protection. At work we use Norton AntiVirus which is updated nightly. At home I use McAfee AntiVirus and update it nightly. Although the software companies don't always have nightly updates, everyone should update their AntiVirus software at least once a week.

Unfortunately there are some people that seem to get their kicks by causing others unnecessary grief by developing viruses, trojan horses, and worms.

Soquili

[tad]

Gary, that worm is wrecking havoc with a lot of people. It sends itself, the people don't even know about it.
One poor friend of mine not only lost her whole drive, now she is getting hate mail from people she had no intention of harming.
I hope that symantec site has some decent info. But it is really a MICROSOFT hole.

So if anyone knows where we can get THE MICROSOFT PATCH. PLEASE LET US KNOW (soon).

We all have to work together on this one, it is truly insidious.
Regards,,,,,,,,,,Tad

[Erik Heyninck]

I have no virus scanner, because that causes more trouble than it solves, so thanks for mentionning this.

What do I do against virusses then?

1/ I do not use outlook express, but Eudora. In paid mode as the free mode puts spyware on your system.
2/ I have not one single office program installed
3/IMPORTANT I never installed the Visual Basic thing as I cannot program, and most virusses work through that.
4/ I have no adress book installed so a possible virus cannot automatically send itself to the people in my book.
5/ I run Zone alarm adn configured it thus that NOTHING can connect to the Internet without my permission.
6/ I NEVER open .vbs, .exe or any other possible active attachment, only .jpg and .gif.


In fact, one should have two computers: one to work with, and one, eventually an older one, for the Net and for files from others on diskettes etc, and a good virus scanner on this one.

Problem with these scanners is that they always run in the background and since I uninstalled McAfee, I never had a crash anymore.

If you don't work against time, time often works for you.

[Bob C.]

Erik,

That is a very interesting way to deal with the problem.

I had Macafee and it was very unstable, but Norton Anti-Virus runs invisibly on my system now.

I use MS Works office “suite� so that helps as well. I don’t think Windows XP will like Eudora. I have used that as well

Sun is offering it’s rather remarkable Star Office Suite Free but is a huge download - about 50 MB. You can buy the CD and manual for about $40 US. I just purchased it on sale for $10 (after rebates etc.) Looks incredible it has all the MS features Plus and! It is supposed to be forward and backward compatible with MS stuff!

Check here: http://www.sun.com/
or specificaly here:
http://www.sun.com/products/staroffi...VWIAACBE3AMTA1 LU3NQ

Bob C.

[traceyp]

Some two weeks ago I received an .exe attachment, I think it was called something like elf4you.exe that Norton Antivirus reported was infected with the W95.hybris.worm virus. Seems from something I read soon after that this is top of the first ten most currently reported viruses. Thankfully Norton gave me the option of deleting it which I did and I then also emptied my Recycle Bin.

Like Eric, I also use Eudora albeit in Sponsored mode (I've got nothing to hide and whether it is spyware I don't really know). Quite frankly I just cannot understand why Outlook Express is so popular what with the loopholes MS have apparently left in it. You've only got to look at the havock it has created in the past two years. I'd much rather use Eudora which seems to be much less vulnerable. Unlike Eric though I refuse to operate without a virus scanner. Initially I started with McAfee Viruscan but soon junked it in favour of Norton Antivirus. I consider it a very big risk to go online without a virus scanner of any sort. But then - that is my opinion and everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

Tracey

[Wolfgang]

If your business and thus your living relies on running computers you can NEVER be cautious enough.

I don't go as far as Eric, but I do, for instance, not use Outlook as well. And I never installed the "Scripting Host" VBS thingie.

I have two virus scanners working parallel that are updated twice a week. It might be one of the advantages of Win2K, but this never caused any trouble or crashes.

I mirror my (viruschecked) work to my notebook and I do regular backups as well. So, if my desktop crashes, I can continue work on the notebook.

My provider does check for viruses as well and never did one make it to my computer. Instead I get a message that a virus was found in a mail and that it was deleted. This happens every two to three months.

I also have a firewall installed and the settings are very restrictive.

What do I want to tell you with this ??

If your PC gets infected and/or harmed, its at least your fault as well. If one takes care and precautions, it should be really hard for a virus to set foot on his computer.

I would love to have a 'clean' PC without Internet access for my work-data, but as webdesign is my business, that's not really possible. At least not practical.

Anyway, take as much care as your work is worth to you.

Wolfgang

P.S.: If you have a leased line or cable, try the security-check at Sygatetech

[gwpriester]

I received this from the only person I knew who had sent me the infected attachment. He was totally unaware of what had happened and found this information regarding the virus:

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> W32/SirCam@MM Help Center

DESCRIPTION - What virus is this?

This is a HIGH RISK virus for consumers that is spread to email recipients
found in the Windows Address Book and addresses found in cached files. The
infected email can come from addresses that you recognize. Attached is a file
with two different extensions. The file name itself varies. The email message
can appear as follows:
Subject: [filename (random)]
Body: Hi! How are you?
I send you this file in order to have your advice
or I hope you can help me with this file that I send
or I hope you like the file that I sendo you
or This is the file with the information that you ask for
See you later. Thanks

PAYLOAD - What can this virus do?

When run, the document will be saved to the C:\RECYCLED folder and then
opened while the virus copies itself to C:\RECYCLED\SirC32.exe folder to
conceal its presence and creates a registry key value to load itself whenever
.EXE files are executed. The virus searches for .GIF, .JPG, .JPEG, .MPEG,
.MOV, .MPG, .PDF, .PNG, .PS, and .ZIP files in the MY DOCUMENTS folder and
attempts to send copies of these documents to email recipients found in the
Windows Address Book and addresses found in cached files.

DETECTION AND REMOVAL
- How can I detect and remove this virus?

McAfee.com VirusScan and Clinic users,
click here to update ActiveShield.

Retail McAfee VirusScan users,
click here to get the latest DAT file.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

This information must have been from the McAfee site.

Gary

Gary Priester

Moderator Person

Bleats Trevor a Mumble