new computer worm?

[snowleopard]

just received what appears to be a mail non-delivery message referring to a suspect .pif attacment but it was to an address i've never heard of so don't think it could be a worm sending itself out to addresses in my directory. it was the usual 26k in size and contained a couple of clickable links.

has anyone else seen this?

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[boatless]

two yesterday...

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[Talbot]

My Norton Internet Security Pro kills all those before I have a chance to see what the attachment title is and its anti-spam is doing a pretty good job at eliminating the crud that some people seem to think is indespensible to my life /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

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[Dodger_jnr]

Hi m8
we here at Uni of greenwich (chatham ) are having same problem, students are getting returned mail propergating from there own address book with an attachment, the ATTACHMENT is the VIRUS, do not open it. At theUNi someone downloaded somthing that let it sit in the pc, as other student logged in they to became subject of this virus..we are currently looking into this.....not much help sorry.

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[snowleopard]

thanks for that. it looks like yet another variant of Doom.

there is a good write up of it at Computer Associates (<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www3.ca.com/solutions/collateral.asp?CT=27081&CID=54593>http://www3.ca.com/solutions/collateral.asp?CT=27081&CID=54593</A>

not sure why my CA virus checker didn't pick it up, perhaps because i hadn't downloaded the attachment.

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[Twister_Ken]

CA?

I'd rely on the Cruising Association for lots of things, but not virus checking!

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.writeforweb.com/twister1>Let's Twist Again</A>

 

[anchorhandler]

Hi there,
Sounds like the 'netsky' virus. My PC just got infected with it yesterday and after speaking to friends. found out that its doing the rounds. Its a relatively innocuous mass mailing worm which searches all hard drives for e'mail address's then starts randomly generating e'mails and sending itself out ...Symantec (Norton anti virus) say it wont damage your PC but does tend to slow it down along with choking the network. Symantec (suspiciously) already had a fix-it tool that cleaned my PC successfully. try the symantec.com website. Hope this helps.


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[johnt]

whats everybody complaining about? mydoom had 11 goes at getting into my 'puter ..in amongst up to 125 spams a day

Norton sorted it but Ive still got Nachi (quarentined) and norton doesnt doesnt seem to have an answer for that

end result was bye bye virgin .net and hello tiscali

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[johnt]

whats everybody complaining about? mydoom had 11 goes at getting into my 'puter ..in amongst up to 125 spams a day

Norton sorted it but Ive still got Nachi (quarentined) and norton doesnt doesnt seem to have an answer for that

end result was bye bye virgin .net and hello tiscali

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[snowleopard]

does it affect hotmail?

i don't have an outlook type email account, relying instead on hotmail. as i don't hold a mailing list on my pc, can these worms still use me to propagate?

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[boatless]

Re: does it affect hotmail?

Yes, it will if you download the email to a pc and then open the attached file.

Unless you have good antivirus, which will then pop up and tell you not to be so silly - but as we are seeing, not all anti virus software is updating complete definition lists. I'm now running two in parallel.

<hr width=100% size=1><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by boatless on 06/03/2004 21:33 (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[BrendanS]

Re: does it affect hotmail?

Never rely on anti virus for complete protection. There is a window of time between a virus being release, the anti virus companies getting a copy of it to analyse, and then being able to engineer a solution (that takes time, it's not instant) and then releasing the update.

A good firewall will stop most unknown viruses, even if the anti virus hasn't been updated. Download the free version of ZoneAlarm firewall (don't pay for the pro version) it's excellent

<hr width=100% size=1>Utinam logica falsa tuam philisophiam totam suffodiant

 

[l'escargot]

Re: does it affect hotmail?

Don't trust a firewall to stop a virus - the majority arrive with e mails and you configure your firewall to let e mails through! A firewall will protect against some worms and trojans.

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[BrendanS]

Re: does it affect hotmail?

Firewalls will stop viruses within emails. It's exactly what they are designed to do if they are identifiable as such. It's a complex issue, but a firewall in conjunction with a antivirus software is the best combination. If the antivirus software doesn't get it, the firewall should provide a reasonable protection. The fact that email gets 'through' the firewall doesn't stop the firewall checking the contents of the email unless you configue it badly, so that it ignores the content of emails....which is not recommended, IMHO, so leave it configured to check emails.

<hr width=100% size=1>Utinam logica falsa tuam philisophiam totam suffodiant

 

[l'escargot]

Re: does it affect hotmail?

If you look at Zonealarms own comparison page <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/comparison.jsp>here</A> you will see that the free version blocks only one type of attachment (.vbs) which is most commonly used for the worms that circulate by e mail. It will not detect any others. Zonealarm consider that there are 46 more varieties important enough for their pro version to detect.
You are right it is a complex problem and you do need a variety of defences but the impression that a basic free firewall contributes significantly to this is wrong. Particularly as the free version will not prevent outgoing scripts, so will not prevent an infected computer from passing on the infection. The basic firewall is primarily intended for broadband users to secure a number of ports from attack.
You need a good AV programme, a good firewall and ideally an e mail stripper like Firetrust Benign which is designed specifically to make e mails safe and doesn't do it as a sideline like a firewall.

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[AuntyRinum]

Re: does it affect hotmail?

"ZoneAlarm firewall (don't pay for the pro version) it's excellent "

Do pay for the pro version. It's even more excellent.

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[boatless]

Re: does it affect hotmail?

ZA Pro is even more excellent. BUT it still lets .zip encased virii through. RAV by GeCad didn't pick one up recently, Kaspersky AV did.

Trust that all around here also know about SpyBot and AdAware as essential system tools?

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