Based on what initiates the virus, here's a couple of guys who may have some PC trouble.
Posted on 02/02/2006 7:15:50 AM PST by Liz
Microsoft has joined computer security experts to warn of a malicious software worm that may have already infected hundreds of thousands of PCs and is set to wreak havoc tomorrow.
The worm, known variously as "Kama Sutra," "Blackworm" and "My Wife," entices users to open an e-mail attachment purportedly containing sexually explicit images.
Once a computer is infected, Microsoft warned, the virus could "permanently corrupt a number of common document format files on the third day of every month." Users should be on the lookout for e-mails with subject headings such as "Hot Movie," "Sex.mpg," "Miss Lebanon 2006" and other similarly raunchy titles.
"This worm feeds on people's willingness to receive salacious content on their desktop computer," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at cyber-security firm Sophos. "People should stop accepting this kind of content from their friends and colleagues."
Microsoft urged computer users to update their anti-virus and security software to the latest versions as soon as possible, saying such measures could prevent the worm from damaging computer systems or erasing files.
"Feb. 3, 2006, is the first time this malware is expected to permanently corrupt the content of specific document format files," Microsoft said.
Further compounding the threat, the company warned that once the infected attachment is opened, it automatically sends itself to all the contacts listed in a user's address book.
As of yesterday, the worm was listed as the most active computer virus in the world by Finnish cyber-security firm F-Secure, which said more than 300,000 machines have already been infected since the worm appeared in mid-January. As with most malicious computer viruses and worms, Apple machines will not be affected........
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Can't believe anyone would open crap like this, not knowing where it came from...
Yep - if you have even the basic XP firewall turned on and use a decent AntiVirus, about the only real threat is when a user invites the bugaboos in.
"Users should be on the lookout for e-mails with subject headings such as "Hot Movie," "Sex.mpg," "Miss Lebanon 2006" and other similarly raunchy titles.
"
Hilarious! I'm sure I'm going to open some random email attachement like those. What's amazing is that many people, apparently do.
My policy is to never open any attachment I'm not already expecting, and I scan even those.
And for those who want to whine about bad Windows security, I will say that I can write an attachment in about 10 minutes that will do an fdisk on your hard drive in 1 second. I won't, but I could.
If you're not expecting an attachment to an email, do not open it. It's that simple.
Don't you wish. All it takes is for one friend, relative, or customer to open one of those things, and it gets mailed to everyone in their address book. I've gotten two of them, but didn't open them. (Thanks to pre-screening with MailWasher.)
And for those who want to whine about bad Windows security, I will say that I can write an attachment in about 10 minutes that will do an fdisk on your hard drive in 1 second. I won't, but I could."
Okay, so what's the solution to this problem?
I get several "salacious" spam e-mails every day, and just go down the list deleting them, but I'm darned tired of getting them. There must be a way for someone, sufficiently knowledgeable and thinking outside the box, to resolve this.
"Can't believe anyone would open crap like this, not knowing where it came from..."
"Hey, the only ones who will get these e-mails will be the denizens of DUmmie Land....so who cares?"
Not necessarily. If anyone who has your email address in their contact book gets this virus on their system, it will email itself to you. The subject line might be changed to something that seems innocent or you might open it without paying much attention to the subject line because it was sent from someone you know.
Bottom line is to be careful and update your anti-virus definitions, etc.
FReegards,
RT
There's a user group I belong to that keeps getting a stupid attached file supposedly called decentcutechick.dsc or something like that. I keep getting 20 or thirty of them a day. The actual files are blocked by the firewall but it's really annoying.
"Okay, so what's the solution to this problem?
I get several "salacious" spam e-mails every day, and just go down the list deleting them, but I'm darned tired of getting them. There must be a way for someone, sufficiently knowledgeable and thinking outside the box, to resolve this.
"
Frankly, there is no solution to the problem of spam. Some mail servers are pretty good at detecting it. Yahoo's mail system is excellent, and rarely misses a spam or sends a good email to the spam pile. Still, I have to look at the titles of everything in the Bulk folder, just to make sure something didn't get shoved over there by accident. Yahoo also scans all attachments before it lets you open them. It's a pretty good system, overall.
It's up to the user. Even if an email sender appears to be someone you know, treat all attachments with caution and do not open them unless you KNOW a sender is going to send you one. If you get email with an attachment from someone you know, but from whom you are not expecting an attachment, send them an email asking if they sent you an attachment and ask what it is.
The bottom line is that it's your responsibility to protect yourself from intruders. I consider spam to be criminal, but I treat my computer as I do my home and car. I don't expect anyone else to protect me from criminals, so I take my own precautions.
I tend to believe that the anti virus software makers are the ones making the virus.
sort of like when the thief steals the airbag from your car and instantly creates a market for the stolen product.
Call me cynical, but didn't that Macafee guy just buy a 30 million dollar house in the San Francisco hills?
"I tend to believe that the anti virus software makers are the ones making the virus.
"
You do, huh? Well, you're wrong. It's a bunch of pimply-faced teenaged boys making most of the viruses and trojans. Little fat creeps who do this as a way to waste time while they're between porn sites.
They're not even smart enough to write their own code. They just modify one of the many virus or trojan templates that can be found on WAREZ and hacker sites.
It's just another method of masturbation for these cretins.
Based on what initiates the virus, here's a couple of guys who may have some PC trouble.
The real question is, if you have downloaded Microsoft's anti-virus software (Giant) or its XP firewall will it block the problem? Or if you get the virus will Microsoft issue a fix after knowing this thing was in the pipeline?
"Frankly, there is no solution to the problem of spam."
I just can't rest content with that.
With no real reason for it, I think there must be a simple, elegant solution that we are overlooking.
"Some mail servers are pretty good at detecting it."
We really need to do more than that. It needs to be detected and traced to its source in real time, so the sender's local SWAT can give him a hardwood shampoo and haul him off to jail.
"The bottom line is that it's your responsibility to protect yourself from intruders."
Yes, but it just p*sses me off that there *are* intruders. My every instinct is to track them down and cause them distress.
"so I take my own precautions."
Zone Alarm and Panda, here.
You'd be surprised. I was really bowled over a couple of weeks ago when I was doing research for FR and visited a website I pulled up in a search. As I was waiting for it to open, I noticed the word "exploit" came up at the bottom of the screen as it was loading (like it does when graphic images are loading on a page). I quickly hit the back button, but since then I have been getting Viagra spams that border on disgusting (tingling balls?), some from company computers that were probably exploited without the users knowledge, just because they may have stumbled across the same website. It can happen to anyone and you don't have to open an e-mail attachment for them to get access to your computer. My virus protection did not recognize it either, which is of concern. I just have to pray that no one I know got Viagra spams from me...yikes!
Can someone rename it "Bush is an idiot" and send it to the Lefty Lunatic Websites?
Windows is bad enough, but windows + outlook is deadly.
That used to be the case. Unfortunately, spam/virus has become big crime business. Over the last few years, the "industry" has changed.
"I just have to pray that no one I know got Viagra spams from me...yikes!"
hmmm - that might give rise to a whole new meaning of your screen-name, heheh.
"Okay, so what's the solution to this problem?"
My ISP is Earthlink, and with their highest anti-spam setting you can only receive e-mails from people that are in your address book. With the "medium" setting they stop most of the spam, but still way too much gets thru for my taste.
So unless I know I'm about to receive e-mail from someone not in my address book, I leave it on "high." I believe that anybody who's not obviously a spammer, and sends me an e-mail (and is not in my address listing), then automatically receives a bounce-back, allowing them to send me a follow-up e-mail (with an attention-getting Re line) asking to add them to my address book, which would then allow the first e-mail to go thru.
This can't be unique to MindSpring though.
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