Mon - July 5, 2004

Another virus said to hit the Internet when the US returns from July 4th celebrations


Notice how often these viruses are released over long weekends when people are perhaps a little less on guard after a happy few days off... and there is a backlog of email ready to download. Here's a report from Melbourne's Age newspaper. Why is it said to hit businesses? Well, we know the main operating system found on most corporate desktops, don't we? Here's a link to get more information. Beware of any attachment, even sent by friends, which ends with .exe or .scr You've been warned!

New virus tipped to hit businesses

Sydney
July 5, 2004


A new internet virus is expected to spread rapidly around the world when businesses return to work today.

The virus is tipped to clog mail servers, cause severe computer slowdowns and wreak financial damage.

The mass mailer worm, dubbed Evaman, was only discovered yesterday, but has been likened to the MyDoom worm that cost businesses hundreds of millions of dollars in January.

The Sydney Morning Herald says it comes only days after online security firms uncovered a trojan designed to harvest internet banking details.

The paper says like MyDoom, Evaman uses a false email address to generate messages with an attachment that carries a virus.

By opening the attachment, people can unleash the virus onto their computer, where it automatically starts sending out dozens of new messages.

Computer security firm Symantec's senior technical director Tim Hartman says Evaman has the potential to be every bit as bad as Mydoom.

Mr Hartman's warned that messages carrying the virus usually have subject headings like failed transaction and failure delivery.

- AAP

Posted at 07:38 PM     |

Thu - February 5, 2004

How Microsoft will help keep your PC virus free


If you'll pardon the expression, this method of assistance gives new meaning to the word, "lame"

Over at its corporate web site , Microsoft has reached deep into its antivirus think tank to produce this intense effort at helping its software users deal with security issues: it will mail out posters! Here's what they look like...now please order and put them up on your wall near your computer, turn around (CCW) three times, then four times (CW) and poof! you're safe! Yeah, you wish!

Posted at 07:46 AM     |

Tue - January 27, 2004

Oh, brother! Another serious Virus for the Windows platform


Media reports coming in suggest this one is very serious.....

My university mailing list, which is usually very good at protecting itself from virus attacks, has already sent me two virus laden messages. My Mac is immune from them fortuantely. Here's the story from today's Melbourne Age newspaper:

A malicious program attached to seemingly innocuous e-mails was spreading quickly over the Internet, clogging network traffic and potentially leaving hackers an open door to infected personal computers.

The worm, called "Mydoom" or "Novarg" by antivirus companies, appears to be an e-mail error message. A small file is attached that, when launched on computers running Microsoft's Windows operating systems, can send out 100 infected e-mail messages in 30 seconds to e-mail addresses stored in the computer's address book and other documents.

The attack was first noticed this afternoon and within hours, thousands of e-mails were clogging networks, said Vincent Gullotto, vice president of Network Associates' antivirus emergency response team.

Besides sending out e-mail, the program appears to open up a backdoor so that hackers can take over the computer later.

"As far as I can tell right now, it's pretty much everywhere on the planet," Gullotto said.

Symantec, another antivirus company, also said the worm appeared to contain a program that logs keystrokes on infected machines. It could collect username and passwords of unsuspecting users and distribute them to strangers...

Unlike other mass-mailing worms, Mydoom does not attempt to trick victims by promising nude pictures of celebrities or mimicking personal notes. Instead, one of its messages reads: "The message contains Unicode characters and has been sent as a binary attachment."

Update: Got home after watching Cold Mountain (better than I expected, but also more violent than expected) to see two virus-laden emails, with attachments.

Here's what one of the messages looked like:

Mail transaction failed. Partial message is available.

There is an attachment called document.exe of about 22k. The message is entitled Hi. May I suggest that you create a filter, such that any mail you receive with the Subject: Hi, is automatically sent to your junk or trash folder. Again, do not open email with attachment from unknown individuals. And for safety's sake, even attachments sent by people known to you ought to be saved to external media such as a floppy until this current virus threat passes. And if you are sick of this virus nonsense... well, you know the drill.

Further Update (January 28): Yeah, this is serious. PC magazine carries a good article explaining what the virus is about (a denial of service attack against SCO is one purpose) and how it does its dirty work. To read about it and what you can do, and see PC Magazine's take on it, go here. And I also just learnt via radio that the worm is considered so threatening to the functioning of the net that the FBI is now investigating its origins. Ah, but for the days when I would update the Rikud list with such news, but ain't gonna happen, kiddies...you're on your own over there.

Another update (January 30): Estimates vary, but so far it seems this virus and its variants have cost $US25 billion. Oh yes, time to buy more secure Windows PCs I think... not. Speaking of which, Microsoft has now offered a reward of US$250,000 having previously stated such rewards would not be offered. My take on this turnabout is that 2004 is set to be another bumper year of viruses and worms targetting Windows-based PCs. Open source system software will move more to centre stage, including the likes of Linux and dare I say it non-open source, but Unix-based OS X (which does contain some open source software). With more Governments and large corporations giving serious consideration to their platform of choice, or whether it is safer to have multiple platforms, tiny cracks in the Microsoft monopoly might widen in 2004 with further virus outbreaks.

Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing aspirations seem easier to talk about that act on, from my perspective. My understanding too is that this is not a complicated virus, yet has caused havoc despite it being a variant on a virus seen last year. So what progress has been made, one might ask? Watch Microsoft and others blame the consumer for opening attachments and not keeping their PCs secure with the latest updates... but they forget, or ignore the fact the bulk of PC users still use dial-up and thus endless updates are a pain to deal with. And that their operating software comes shipped with plenty of security holes. ..and most users are people simply wanting to do email, write, surf or whatever, and then be left alone and not bugged (ahem) every few days or weeks with security updates.

Like a lot of non-Windows users, I could adopt an "I told you so" stance, but unfortunately, ALL net users suffer, not just from receiving dozens of virus-ridden emails, but the general slowdown on the net that also occurs. There is no point in gloating. Last year, some airline booking systems went down, and many business were affected. If you invoiced an affected business, by definition, this virus affected you. So, no time to display Schadenfreude, but a time to remind readers to carefully consider their next computer purchase, get your head out of the crowd that you perhaps sheepishly stick with ("the herd might stink, but at least its warm and protective") and seek out alternatives. For most of you, the sort of software you will use 95% of the time has equivalents on other platforms. And if you stay with the Windows environment, then at least protect yourself, and thereby protect others. OK, off the soap box I hop.

Posted at 06:53 PM     |

Tue - January 20, 2004

The Beagle has landed - on your PC, if you're not careful


2004 will be a horrible year for spam and viruses, and here's the first virus warning for the year

2003 was an awful year for internet nasties, with spam getting utterly out of control and seeming to get worse after anti-spam legislation was invoked.

Billions of dollars of productivity was lost around August 2003 when the SoBig virus was unleashed. At the beginning of 2004, a similar virus has been released by those who get pleasure from interfering with others' lives, known as Beagle. You can read about it here. Also known as Bagle, the worm arrives in an e-mail with the subject "hi" and the word "test" in the message body. The virus spread through Asia and Australia this past weekend, and ought to reach US shores by the time you read this blog entry.

If opened, the virus then sends itself to email addresses in the address book, perhaps as a means to gather email addresses for spammers. As usual, make sure you have your anti-virus app. updated, curb your curiousity to open attachments from unknown sources. And if driven crazy or want to stop the nonsense, get a non-Windows computer. 'nuff said.



Posted at 08:40 PM     |

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