Virus Warning - All Members Please Read

[Rob]

Although this is not Corvette related, I feel that it's important enough that it should be posted here to alert and protect our members.

There is a nasty virus that has made a return today and you need to be aware of it. <b>PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE RUNNING VIRUS PROTECTION SOFTWARE AND THAT YOUR VIRUS DEFINITIONS FILES ARE CURRENTLY UP TO DATE</B>:

From: eWeek:

August 19, 2003
SoBig Virus Returns
By Dennis Fisher

Welcome to the summer of the worm.
Hard on the heels of the Blaster worm outbreak , yet another version of the resilient and ever-popular SoBig virus began spreading rapidly on the Internet Tuesday morning. Known as SoBig.F, the new variant behaves much like its older siblings, infecting Windows machines via e-mail and sending out dozens of copies of itself.

The variant began spreading early Tuesday Eastern time, and by 9 a.m. Tuesday, MessageLabs Inc. had stopped more than 10,000 copies. The virus size is approximately 73 KB, and the attachment that actually contains the malicious code can carry any one of a number of names, according to iDefense Inc., a security company based in Reston, Va. Among the file names seen so far are:

application.pif
document_all.pif
details.pif
document_9446.pif
movie0045.pif
thank_you.pif
your_details.pif
your_document.pif
wicked_scr.scr

The subject line of the e-mail message that carries the attachment is also randomized, and many of the subjects are similar to previous SoBig variants. They include:

Re: Details
Re: Approved
Re: Re: My details
Re: That movie
Re: Thank you!
Re: Your application
Re: Wicked screensaver
Thank you!
Your details

SoBig.F installs a copy of itself in the Windows registry, in a file named "winppr32.exe." MessageLabs lists the worm as originating in the Netherlands, and its statistics show that SoBig.F has spread mainly in that country and Norway at this point. However, that is likely to change as workers in North America begin checking their e-mail Tuesday.

SoBig.F's appearance comes just eight days after the initial onset of the Blaster worm, which has infected several hundred thousand Windows PCs.

Link: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,1225395,00.asp

 

[69MyWay]

Rob,

Thanks for the link.

I logged on my home email just now and got three emails from unknown senders. I had:

Re: Details
Re: Your application
Re: Wicked screensaver

My Norton Popped up and said I had been updated with LIVE UPDATE.

The emails were empty (no attachements).

I guess they were on top of it.

I went through and removed all traces from the system.

What kind of sick people out there waste their time coming up with ways to make computers sick. These people are pure terrorists! The expense they cause on the global economy is incredible.

 

[Rain]

So very glad to be on Macintosh computers here in the office.
Its just so easy for a virus to be written for Windows, that they dont take the time to write any for Mac OS.

Good luck you guys and keep that virus software updated!

Rain
*mac user since 1987

 

[67HEAVEN]

The Ontario Safety Commissioner explained, on this evening's news, that computer worms are currently complicating the balancing-of-the-electrical-generation-vs.-consumption problem we are still experiencing in Ontario.

When are lawmakers and judges going to make an example of some of these bottom-breathers that write this stuff?

A large portion of my income comes directly from dealing with this plague on society, but I still hate the ******** who create them. ad

 

[SlowRide]

Please help a computer novice understand.....

if I get one of these emails and don't open it, and immediatley delete it, am I ok? If I recieve an email from an unknown origin, I do not open it, I always delete it.

If I receive the infected email, does it infect my computer? Or, is it activated by opening only?

Thanks for the help......Nick

 

[Ken]

My Yahoo mail got hit. I left for a while this afternoon and when I came back there were ten new messages in there, all with attachments (.pif files). My Oulook mailbox was not hit because of my Firewall/Virus Protection.

I'm with Chris on this one:

What kind of sick people out there waste their time coming up with ways to make computers sick?

Some seriously disturbed people out there. :eyerole

 

[Rob]

Please help a computer novice understand.....

if I get one of these emails and don't open it, and immediatley delete it, am I ok? If I recieve an email from an unknown origin, I do not open it, I always delete it.

If I receive the infected email, does it infect my computer? Or, is it activated by opening only?

Thanks for the help......Nick

Yes, you're ok. The virus/worm is activated by opening it. Do not open it. Delete it immediately.

 

[Rob]

I can tell you that I have been getting slammed with this virus all day long and I do mean SLAMMED. I cannot stress enough that EVERYONE running Windows based operating systems on their computers should be using anti-virus software and it should be kept up to date.

In some instances, yes, you have to pay for the software which is like $30.00 but it is the best $30.00 you ever spent.

 

[Ctfoodguy2000]

Rob - thanks for the info. Also, great advice on having current anti-virus software. I can't stand all these viruses that are being sent over the internet!

 

[Gorgon]

So very glad to be on Macintosh computers here in the office.
Its just so easy for a virus to be written for Windows, that they dont take the time to write any for Mac OS.

Good luck you guys and keep that virus software updated!

Rain
*mac user since 1987

Nobody cares to write worms for 4% of the market the Mac has.

Leon

 

[Rain]

Leon,
Too bad you do not know how professional macs are or the number of things you come into contact each and every day that are created by macs.

Till then, keep replacing your computer every year or 2 and enjoy the security holes in your OS and your plain beige towers.

I have nothing against PCs or their users. I just dont like Microsoft, their OS, and their business practices. They release proven inferior products.

respectfully,
Rain

Computers are for business, PlayStations are for games.

 

[Rain]

And by the way Leon, Worms are not written. They are easily exploited security flaws in a OS that you have been convinced to purchase and have blindly assumed is secure.

 

[Ken]

Golly Rain, you Mac users are a sensitive bunch aren't ya? :L

Just kidding ya know.

_ken

 

[Rain]

Ken, LMAO!
Yes, we really are, honestly. You will rarely see such passion and product loyalty from a windows user.
(its a love for a solid platform built on creativity)

Nothing against Leon, he just threw out that same card that every anti-mac person tosses out. If they would simply do some research, show us why Mhz matter, or even come up with useful innovations in their OS that is not a copy of something Mac OS, then I might not shut them out. (not saying Mac OS is an original thought here. )

Most Windows users simply surf the web a few hours a week, write email, and play solitaire or bridge. Those folks need a $499 computer that never needs to be rendering video, designing advertisements, creating billboards and magazines or newspapers, or even editing movies and producing hit records. They own a windows machine because thats what is readily available at wal mart and radioshack and its what they have at work. Familiarity, plain and simple.

If the machine does what you need it to in order to be productive and on time, then you are fine with what you have.

The windows users that get my goat are the ones who claim they need this super computer power to play games on each night. Again, no real output or product involved. Its a game station to them.

Yes, Apple doesn't have a high dollar stock, or a high market share. Big deal. They are a forward thinking technology company that builds solid machines, creative outlets, and provides their users with a secure and stable OS platform. My tower gets rebooted once a week whether it needs it or not. My notebook has not been rebooted or crashed since I bought it 9 months ago. (its used for portable recording, editing, Photoshop, HTML coding, surfing and email)

Who else bought a tower computer in 1996 that is still their main workstation? I have a nearly stock PowerMac 8600 that I do daily music editing and recording, Photoshop photo and graphics work, and basic video editing. If it were too slow to be competitively productive, I would have felt the need to upgrade. This technology is still viable after all these years in these markets and more.

With the introduction of Apple Retail stores, I expect to see many more home users switching to the Mac OS. Many of you have never had your hands on a Mac. Ignorance of the product platform is a huge hurdle.

Try to swing by your local Apple Retail Store. Touch a mac. Ask for a demo. These sales people are SO MUCH better than the minimum wage kids at CompUSA.

End of rant: Thanks KEN! haha
Rain

 

[Ken]

I first learned on a Mac. Hell, I may even go back one day because it is so much nicer to work with graphics.

 

[Rain]

I hear ya, Ken. My dad got me on my first one while doing papers in HighSchool in the mid 80s. They were Apples back then.
He had them at the school he was headmaster of.
At home we had the TI 128 (programs on cassette tape- learned BASIC on that machine) and the typical Com 64(first floppy I ever saw)
I had a used FatMac 1991-1993 with 512k of RAM, no hard drives, 2 external floppies, (first Mouse I had ever used) and a dot matrix printer.

Programming courses I took in Highschool were all on TRS 80 radio shack tandys and IMB xt(i think). Keyboard, CPU, and monochrome monitor - boy have things progressed!

No Offense Ken, But I'll bet you have seen computers progress from crawling to flying!

cheers,
Rain

 

[Ken]

I'll bet you have seen computers progress from crawling to flying!

I'm too old to remember! Ouch, did I just say that?

 

[Rain]

 

[Rain]

Wholy Crap Ken!!! Im Amazed

 

[Ken]

That is so old! Where have you been?

_ken