Storm Worm hits computers around the world

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Computer virus writers attacked thousands of computers on Friday using an unusually topical email citing raging European storms, a security company said.

The virus, which the company named "Storm Worm," was emailed to hundreds of thousands of addresses globally with the subject line "230 dead as storm batters Europe."

An attached file contained so-called malware that can infiltrate computer systems.

"What makes this exceptional is the timely nature of the attack," Mikko Hypponen, head of research at Finnish data security firm F-Secure, told Reuters. . Hypponen said thousands of computers, most in private use, had been affected.

I like Norton, too, for the most part, but it sure didn't detect whatever infiltrated my browser homepage in December. My registry is contaminated with a foreign homepage that I don't know how to delete.

Norton is an anti-virus. It sounds as though your browser has been hijacked (Are you using Internet Explorer?).

On the off chance someone hasn't addressed this yet, here are a couple of free tools which may be of help:

Adaware SE

Spybot Search and Destroy

To avoid this type of thing in the future, you might want to use Spybots' real-time protection "Teatimer", and/or WinPatrol (also free).

Once your system is clean, you may want to install Spywareblaster

If you're using MSIE, you may also want to consider switching to Firefox, Seamonkey, or Opera.

I haven't posted this in some time, so here goes...

PC security-related links. All software listed is freeware or open source. Last Update: 12/24/2006
Anti-Virus: AntiVir® Personal Edition Windows 98/98SE/ME, 2000/XP. Avast Home Edition Windows 95/98/98SE/ME, 2000/XP. AVG Anti-Virus Windows 98/98SE/ME, 2000/XP. BitDefender Free Edition Windows 98/98SE/ME, 2000/XP. On-demand anti-virus program. ClamWin Windows 98/98SE/ME, 2000/XP. On-demand virus scanner. Detects, doesn't clean. Dr. Web CureIT! Windows 95/98/98SE/ME, 2000/XP. On-demand, anti-malware (anti-virus/spyware). Detects and cleans. No installation required. McAfee Stinger On-demand anti-virus/trojan. No installation required. Fits on a 3.5" floppy.	Alternatives to MSIE, Outlook & Outlook Express: Mozilla.org Firefox browser, Thunderbird E-mail client, Mozilla Suite (1.7.13 is the final release). Opera Supports tabbed browsing, etc. Easier on resources than Firefox, Mozilla/Seamonkey. Unlike Mozilla, Opera currently has no plans to drop support for Windows 9x/ME. Off By One The world's smallest and fastest web browser. No installation required. Popcorn E-Mail Small, no-frills e-mail client. Seamonkey The successor to the Mozilla Suite. Web-browser, e-mail/usenet client, IRC client, HTML editing, all in one application. Xnews Usenet client.
Anti-Adware/Spyware: Ad-Aware SE Windows 98/98SE/ME, 2000/XP. On-demand scanner (Select "Ad-Aware Personal"). SpywareBlaster Windows 95/98/98SE/ME, 2000/XP. Prevent the installation of spyware and other potentially unwanted software! SpywareGuard Windows 98/98SE/ME, 2000/XP. Full/real-time protection against spyware/malware. Spybot - Search and Destroy Windows 98/98SE/ME, 2000/XP. Offers on-demand scanning and full/real-time protection. Spyware Terminator Windows 98/ME, 2000/XP. Real-time protection. Remove spyware, adware, trojans, keyloggers, home page hijackers and other malware threats.	Firewall: Kerio Personal Firewall 2.1.5 Windows 98/98SE/ME, 2000/XP. (Last freeware version) Tiny Personal Firewall 2.0.15A Windows 95/98/98SE/ME, 2000/XP. Tiny Personal Firewall 2.0.9 Windows 98/98SE/ME, 2000/XP. (Last freeware version) ZoneAlarm Free Download Note: Zonealarm is dropping support for Win9x/ME. Zonealarm at Oldversion.com For those who need a version compatible with Windows 9x/ME.
Technical Help: CastleCops Security Forums Cyber Tech Help Support Forum SpywareWarrior.com Forum VirtualDr Forums How To Ask Questions The Smart Way This guide will teach you how to ask questions in a way that is likely to get you a satisfactory answer.	How-to and Tutorial: PCWorld: How to Install a Firewall Using Ad-Aware SE Using Spybot - Search and Destroy
Useful sites, etc.: Firewall Test, Security Test and Security Scan Leak Test Test your firewall against internal extrusions (leaks). Shields Up Firewall Test. Spyware/Adware/Malware FAQ and Removal Guide SpwyareWarrior.com Waging the war against spyware! U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team	Miscellaneous: MVPS HOSTS File Don't surf the Net without it! Ping Plotter Internet diagnostic tool. Proxomitron Windows 95/98/98SE/ME, 2000/XP. A free, highly flexible, user-configurable, small, but very powerful, local HTTP web-filtering proxy. WinPatrol A robust SECURITY MONITOR. WinPatrol will alert you to hijackings, malware attacks and critical changes made to your computer without your permission.

People who open ~~.doc~~ ANY attachments on e-mails, ~~especially from people they don't know,~~ are idiots.

There, fixed it.

I'm preaching to the converted, but I'm still going to stress NEVER NEVER NEVER open ANY attachment from ANYONE unless you have knowledge it's on its way. Even then, a codeword of some sort in the subject line is recommended.

(JMHO, not aN IT guy, just been burned one too many times. ALL email I get is first checked out online at my ISP's webmail and dealt with from there. Only after it's been screened do I allow it onto this 'puter.

I just got an email tonight from my "bank". Logos, official colors, all the fine print at the bottom, proud sponser of the Olympics, etc.

It was a long letter (to make it look offical no doubt) that said my account was not up-to-date and that I needed to update my password, etc. or I wouldn't be able to make any computer transactions and my account would be closed.

Putting the cursor on "clik here" came up with some weird url with .bankname_registration/update/blahblahblah.

Of course I didn't click it, and have warned my wife in the past about this stuff too. I just wonder about all the poor folks that DO get scammed by this stuff. (And no - most banks are not looking for an easy way to CLOSE your account!)

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.