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Dear H-NET editors and readers:
The latest virus annoyance, W32.Bugbear@mm, is in the wild; it's
showing up in a lot of your mailboxes as random email messages with no
"to:" line. Even if your machine is infected, you can't infect someone
else's machine: they have to open the attachment to do that.
The worm:
tries to stop antivirus and firewall processes on the infected machine
mails itself out to/from random addresses it can spoof from the
infected machine
sometimes uses a double extension attachment (e.g., "filename.exe.pif")
opens one of the computer's ports to permit hackers to send commands
to it and damage your data
tries to spread itself to computers on a network connected to the
infected machine
does not affect Macintosh, Unix, or Linus operating systems
Norton's most recent antivirus definitions, released last Wednesday, do
detect this worm. Symantec also has a removal tool to cleanse an
infected computer. You can read more about it at the web address below.
Other antivirus programs offer similar defenses; if your institution
provides such support, contact the support staff for advice on updating
antivirus software that it provides.
As always, the best defense is at the desktop. Keep antivirus programs
running and updated; some antivirus programs will also scan OUTGOING
mail, which can be helpful in catching infected attachments you might
inadvertently send. Run a full system antivirus scan at least once
weekly, preferably after your latest antivirus definitions have been
installed. If your machine is always on, always use a firewall. Don't
open attachments you are not expecting. Attachments with the
extensions .exe, .bat, .pif, .scr are particularly suspicious. Change
passwords frequently.
H-NET does not provide antivirus technical support for subscribers. Please work with your vendor, system administrator, or network support personnel to troubleshoot virus issues.
regards
Peter
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