new internet worm

Mike LeCompte CPF

MGF, Master Grumble Framer
Joined
Jul 20, 2005
Posts
792
Loc
Knoxville TN
heard yesterday about this new worm supposed to infect us in a coupla days. So, boys and girls, do we lay off the internet for a week or so or risk getting infected? Or does it only affect emails and such? Media says it affects only emails but my distrust of those clowns is only surpassed by my distrust of all my ex-wives
 
Most of the nasties on the internet aren’t new, they’re just modifications of previously published worms and viruses.

Most of the good ISPs do their own filtering and are pretty good at stopping them. Earthlink intercepts at least three a week for me.

But, past that first line of defense is my Norton’s Anti-Virus which also grabs a few per month. I just have to remember to download the monthly update.

From what I gather, most worms and stuff are sent as attachments, so if you’re careful about not opening stuff you didn’t solicit, and resist the temptation to view the “naked truth about Paris Hilton” you should be okay.
 
It never fails to amaze me how many people use computers without the most basic of anti-virus and firewall software. These are available free on the internet. Google for AVG and Zone Alarm, the free versions will stop most problems, the pro versions will stop all of them.. Set them to run and update automatically.

If a worm infects your PC it will use your address book to send itself to everyone in it.
The clever ones use falsified headers so that they are difficult to trace, and appear to come from someone else.

Other virus's log keystrokes, then send them to the nerd that has sent it. These will disclose such things as your passwords and bank account details.
Its a minefield on the net if you don't take simple precautions.
Most ISP's filter spam, which is unsolicited advertising. Because of their nature most virus's cannot be filtered by ISP's
 
Use firewalls, antivirus, spyware, adaware, etc. But it was my understanding that this new "worm" is evading or is being undetected by all that. Any ideas??? Or am I wrong? In other words, if I'm usingt all the above, am I safe, or do I need do something else?
 
I've heard of 2 different ones in the past few days. One you need to get an update from Microsoft to block it. The update is available as of yesterday. So in addition to have AV, Firewalls, spyware filters, etc. it is important to keep your computer's operating system up to date.
 
Worms that attack the address book can be stopped from spreading to those in your address book in a simple way. This will prevent infecting others but you will have to deal with your computer to fix it.

Try this:

Add the address of aaaaaa@aaa.com to your adress book. If you are infected it will stop the spread by notifying you that the message was undeliverable because the first addres in your book is bogus. Worms create a broadcast e-mail to all recipients and in most cases no mail will be sent because of the fact that the first address was bad. This way if you ever see an error message about the bad address you know you have been infected.

Should you receive a message about the bad address immediately hold down the power button to shut the computer down and get professional help.
 
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