1999 Free Republic, LLC VIRUS

N/A | Nov. 11, 2002 | Me

[jgrubbs]

I just got an email From: plc005 , with the Subject: 1999 Free Republic, LLC. It also had the following two attachments:

STYLE.bat,Size: 123854 bytes. a3a2bc9e24035[1].htm,Size: 71680 bytes

The first attachemnt, STYLE.bat, is a virus.

The second one is a copy of the HTML page from this FR thread: http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3a2bc9e24035.htm

[jgrubbs]

Has anyone else gotten this virus?

[jgrubbs]

the email address of the sender is plc005@cent1.lancs.ac.uk

[dd5339]

Ping! Watch out for this!

Semper Fi

[rface]

I have learned the hard way, that any e-mail that is Size: 123854 bytes (actually anything between 120,000 and 180,000) is probably a virus, and I do not open any attachments that is within that e-mail. I get 3 of these a week now.

[Physicist]

Never open any attachment you didn't request, especially if the filetype is .bat, .exe or something you don't recognize. Even then, be wary. A .jpg or .gif won't hurt your system, but many other filetypes could (Backdoor.SubSeven, for example, exploits streaming audio to get in).

I get about one of these "1999 Free Republic, LLC" messages per day. Just dump 'em.

[big bad easter bunny]

Download AVG software;
http://www.grisoft.com/html/us_index.htm?session=59bd5e7b92b44e770d4897cca7faa239

[TaRaRaBoomDeAyGoreLostToday!]

BumPing for all to be aware.

[jgrubbs]

I use AVG, it stopped the virus. I posted this just to make sure others are aware.

[RCW2001]

AVG bump...

[Texas Mom]

I use Panda anti virus and it has been great finding these viruses.. I get several a week. Always from an email address I don't recognize. I block the address and darn another one pops up with a different address. It use to be you would get one occasionally but it was usually an accident but these is a well organized effort to send viruses and infect everyones computers. Cyber terrorism.

[Cicero]

For what it's worth, the sender's address may not mean anything. There are ways to spoof addresses. Also some viruses send themselves from infected computers without the owner's knowledge. I used to e-mail back and warn people about sending me a virus, but now I would only do so if I knew the person, because there's no telling who or what might be at the other end.

Once when I was e-mailing advertisers about "Nothing Sacred" I got an infected e-mail from Domino's Pizzas, one of the good guys who happened to have had one ad on the program, arranged without their knowledge. It turned out that their whole office had been infected with the virus, so I did them a favor by telling them.

[backhoe]

I have had good results by using this:

-http://www.all-nettools.com/tools1.htm--

to locate all the servers in the server chain that propagated a virus to me, and emailing the header information to them. Usually don't get repeats.

[fone]

You should've gotten a free pizza every month for a year.

At least!

[meyer]

Never open any attachment you didn't request, especially if the filetype is .bat, .exe or something you don't recognize. Even then, be wary. A .jpg or .gif won't hurt your system, but many other filetypes could (Backdoor.SubSeven, for example, exploits streaming audio to get in).

That bears repeating. A ".exe" file is a program. A ".bat" file is a batch file which can sort-of act like a program. I've deleted a few e-mails with such files myself without ever opening the attachment, and that was before I ever ran with antivirus software.

[Lion's Cub]

BTTT

[ricksmuse]

My friend was using my computer today. He received an email from someone he knew and downloaded a zipped file. When I saw the folder later in the day it only had a file titled hotmail with no extension and a file titled style.bat - he says there were also a bunch of photos from International Male but these were the only two files in the folder when I looked. I'm 99% sure he must have clicked on the style.bat file (I am not using an anti-virus program - my bad!). My computer is having a hard time shutting down and starting up and my weatherbug program that starts automatically when the computer boots up is not starting up. It is also runnig very sluggishly. What else can I expect from this virus if I have it and what can I do aside from doing a clean and restore on my computer?

[Cultural Jihad]

I looked at both McAfee and Nortons for any instances of "style" or "freerepublic" and neither listed any such virus. I wonder if it is a narrowcast virus designed for FReepers.

[KS Flyover]

Welcome to FR.

Here's what you might try:

Download AVG 6.0 Free Edition and see if it finds and removes the virus.

If you don't already have it, you should also download Ad-aware and check for Spyware on your system.

Run ScanDisc and Defrag your hard drive at least once a week.

Good luck!