Current virus threats -- DON'T OPEN!!: North American GBC Exec C

[Guest guest]

>From Hare Krishna dasi:

 

"I just received an e-mail -- supposedly from "Noma Petroff" entitled

North American GBC Executive Committee on Y2K"

 

"This e-mail is **not** from me. It contains an attachment which invites

the reader to download funny messages. I suspect that it is some kind

of virus.

 

"Do not open any attachments over the Y2K transition period -- even if

you know the person -- unless you are positive they are legitimate.

Many will contain viruses.

 

"Any note which claims to be North American GBC Executive Committee on

Y2K is **not** from me."

 

==============

 

>From Sri Rama das:

 

Hare Krishna.

 

Here's what's happening with these viruses:

 

Once upon a time, viruses spread through executable files (programs).

Most people acquired them from computer bulletin boards. They pretended to

be useful programs, but once they were on your system, the destructive part

of the virus would act. The next big advances in virus technology were

self-propagation and they ability of a virus to transform itself

periodically in order to avoid detection.

 

About five years ago, "macro" viruses appeared and spread rapidly

throughout corporate networks. These virus are imbedded in document,

primarily MS Word and MS Excel data files. They spread rapidly through email

attachments, since in the corporate work environment, a typical user may

receive 25 or more legitimate email attachments a day.

 

In twenty years of computing, I've never been affected by a virus (knock

on wood). In fact, my anti-virus software has never even found a potential

virus on one of systems. Virus problems are largely a factor of how you use

your computer. I also receive virtually no spam. I believe I haven't had a

problem yet because of my computing habits:

 

-- I don't run programs acquired from unknown sources. Most reputable

download sites make a good effort to screen software for viruses before they

post it. Avoid "freebies" that sound too good to be true.

 

-- I stay out of chat rooms.

 

-- I never open email attachments unless I know what's inside.

 

Now this last point deserves a bit more attention. Up to recently, if you

avoided attachments from people you didn't know, you could be pretty safe.

However, in the last year, there's been a proliferation of "fun" files that

naive emailers pass around to their friends without knowing their virus

potential. "Get Rich Quick" info is another category to scrutinize. I've

seen several of these two varieties being passed around COM recently.

 

At present, the danger is more pronounced due to a new virus development.

Some current viruses spread through email without intervention by anyone!

Here's the idea: You get an innocent message that does you no observable

harm. You delete it. However, the virus has already read your address book

and starts sending out messages to your friends and associates that appear

to be from you. Worse, the virus even selects a subject header from your

real email on a real topic.

 

How to protect yourself?

 

-- Don't open attachments in your mail unless you requested that

attachment from the sender. If you're not sure, contact the sender to verify

that file before opening it.

 

-- The millennium changeover is hog-heaven for virus writers. There's got

to be an intense competition for who can write the most insidious

activated-activated virus. Expect to see viruses disguising themselves as

Y2K bugs.

 

-- Obtain and install good anti-virus software and upgrade the signature

files every couple of days between now and March 1, 2000. Here's a good

industrial-strength program at a great price (free), no strings attached

from CA/Innoculan: http://antivirus.cai.com/.

 

-- Avoid frivolous and unscrupulous websites. It is possible that

clicking on a link may generate a cookie that identifies your email address.

Your email address can then be exploited in a variety of ways. You may wish

to clean out unwanted cookies from your cache from time to time. Make sure

you understand what "unwanted" means before you do that.

 

-- BACK UP YOUR DATA AND CRITICAL PROGRAM FILES! If you don't have tape

or a zip drive, there are free storage areas out on the Net you can back up

your files to.

 

While we're on the subject of Y2K, here's a bit of helpful advice:

 

If your concerned about Y2K problems, it's worth your while to check your

system for potential glitches. There's some free stuff out there that's

pretty good. Try

http://hotfiles.zdnet.com/cgi-bin/texis/swlib/hotfiles/search.html. Most

important is to check your hardware and operating system (especially the

Windows "short date" format*). You can also check your system and data

files. While none of this is particularly hard to do, plan to spend 3-4

hours reading the documentation, running the programs, and making the fixes.

READ & UNDERSTAND THE DIRECTIONS BEFORE USING.

 

If you don't want to spend that much time, here's something that EVERYONE

should do:

 

Most PCs purchased in the last two or three years have a "Y2K compliant

BIOS." This means that when the computer's real-time clock generates a time

of 1-1-2000 00:00:01 or later, the BIOS will properly turn over with the

millennium change. HOWEVER, only a small number of PCs have Y2K compliant

real-time clocks. (There are only two manufactures of real-time clocks, and

compliant clocks cost more. So computer manufacturers. . . .)

 

Fortunately, there's an easy fix: Turn off your computer before midnight

and don't turn it back on until after midnight. Include some slack time if

you're not sure your system time is set accurately.

 

If you don't have a Y2K compliant BIOS, you have three options: 1)

Upgrade the BIOS. 2) Get a software patch that forces your BIOS to reset

properly after the changeover (make sure you know whether your system should

be on or off during the changeover). 3) Turn back the time in your BIOS so

your computer thinks year 2000 hasn't happened. Think of it as Daylight

Savings Time for the millennium. (Obviously, this is a temporary measure

since any time-dependent data is going to have to be correctly later.)

 

Good luck. Feel free to pass on this information to your friends.

 

Your servant,

Sri Rama das

 

* To change the Windows95/98 short date format: Go to Control Panel and open

Regional Settings. Choose the Date tab. On the drop-down menu for the Short

Date Style, choose M/d/yyyy, MM/dd/yyyy, or yyyy/MM/dd. Click OK.

 

[srirama (AT) bbt (DOT) se], or

[srirama (AT) jps (DOT) net] < PLEASE NOTE THIS NEW EMAIL ADDRESS