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Sasser Worm hits hard -- 05/07/2004 The Sasser Worm has been all over the news and for good reason. You do NOT have to open email attachments or even have a web browser open to "catch" Sasser. Sasser is a network aware worm that exploits a known Microsoft vulnerability and spreads by scanning randomly chosen IP addresses on Microsoft systems that have not been patched. Sasser can run on, but not infect Windows 98/ME systems. It's targets are Windows 2000 and XP Home/Professional. If you have Norton AntiVirus or another scanner running, you may have been surprised to learn that Sasser snuck in between updates. Make certain your scanner and virus definitions are fully updated. Symptoms of Sasser include extremely slow performance, slow or non-existent internet connections, and the computer will shut down and restart. Make sure you are protected by updating your OS now with all of the Microsoft patches available at the Microsoft Windows update site: http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com. Netsky and the Beagle, or is it Bagle? -- 03/8/2004 I have seen a marked increase in viruses lately. In particular, the W32.Beagle (also known as Bagle) and W32.Netsky variants. Both are rampant mass-mailing worms which can bring your internet connection to its knees. By the increasing rate of new variants, it seems as if virus programmers are now competing against each other directly to achieve the "Top Spot" on antivirus websites. Make no mistake, it is essential to have an updated virus scanner installed on your computer. If you do not have one, you WILL eventually.make contact with a virus. It's that simple. There are now over 100, 000 known viruses. Make sure you are protected by updating your OS now with all of the Microsoft patches available at the Microsoft Windows update site: http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com. How big can a worm get? About SoBig... now a Category 4. -- 08/21/2003 The SoBig worm is now being touted as one of the most active email worms to date. As always, it is important to keep your AV programs updated. Make sure you are protected by updating your OS now with all of the Microsoft patches available at the Microsoft Windows update site: http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com. If
you feel you are infected by the SoBig worm, Symantec has created a
removal tool located at: http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.sobig.f@mm.html. *The Blaster worm. * -- 08/11/2003 The Blaster worm is making headlines all over today. It only affects systems using Windows 2000 and Windows XP (Pro/Home). If you are using Windows 98 or some other OS, you are NOT affected. Blaster exploits a vulnerability in these two operating systems made public by Microsoft recently. It is spreading wildly, but the big news is the DoS (Denial of Service) attack which is expected to trigger on August 16th, 2003 against Microsoft Windows Update. It is intended to prevent people from updating (or patching) their computers to prevent the spread of the worm. As always, it is important to keep your AV programs updated. Make sure you are protected by updating your OS now with the patch available at this Microsoft site: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-026.asp. If you feel you are infected by the blaster worm, Symantec has created a removal tool located at: http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.blaster.worm.html. Click here for a link to more information about this threat. *BugBear worm is back - with a vengeance. * -- 06/07/2003 Bugbear has returned as the new variant Bugbear.B worm. It is a rather poorly programmed, but still destructive worm which can attack through the preview pane of your e-mail client. BugBear.B also has the ability to disable various anti-virus programs, so as always, it is important to keep your AV programs updated. Click here for a link to more information about this threat. *Fizzer worm records your keystrokes and spreads through KaZaA * -- 05/24/2003 Fizzer is a mass-mailing worm which also contains some
other fairly unique traits. It has a "backdoor" which allows a
remote attacker to communicate with it (on your computer) through AIM
(AOL Instant Messenger). It also contains a keylogger recording your own
keystrokes which may include such personal things as passwords and
credit card information. Fizzer also has the ability to disable various anti-virus programs, so as always, it is important to keep your AV programs updated. Click here for a link to more information about this threat. *SQL Slammer slams the Internet* -- 01/27/2003 A worm which attacks through known vulnerabilities in Microsoft
Corp.'s SQL Server hit the Internet hard Friday night and early Saturday
morning, slowing Web traffic to a crawl as it caused massive
"denial of service" attacks globally. One of the most notable
results was that many ATM services were temporarily shut down. Click here for a link to more information about this threat. *Hobble Worm Alert* -- 12/03/2002 Distribution Wild W32.Hobble.H@mm is a mass-mailing worm that replicates by email and attempts to spread across the KaZaA file-sharing network. It also attempts to terminate the processes of various security related programs. W32.Hobble.H@mm is a .NET executable that is written in C# and runs
only in the .NET Framework. The email message has the following
characteristics: Click here for a link to more information about this threat. *AOL 8.0 Cranks Up The System Requirements* -- 10/17/2002 If you are thinking about upgrading to AOL 8.0, be sure your computer meets the minimum system requirements: Windows 98 System Requirements:
* Requires up to 314 MB of free space if IE 6.0 needs to be installed. Windows ME System Requirements:
Windows 2000 System Requirements:
* Requires up to 280 MB of free space if IE 6.0 needs to be installed. Windows XP System Requirements:
*AOL Ends Third-Party Pop-Ups* -- 10/15/2002
*Outlook Express Security Alert* -- 10/14/2002 Microsoft Security Bulletin MS02-058Unchecked Buffer in Outlook Express S/MIME Parsing Could Enable System Compromise (Q328676) This is a "critical" security alert. If you have Outlook Express V5.5 or V.6.0 on your computer, please read this article and apply the patch to close the vulnerability. Microsoft Security Bulletin: Download location: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads/critical/q328676/default.asp *Netscape/AOL Loses an Important Spyware Appeal* -- 10/04/2002 Netscape/AOL lost an important appeal before New York's second circuit court. This paves the way for our courts to next determine whether Netscape/AOL did, as is being alleged, with their spyware, violate the Electronic Communications Privacy and Computer Fraud and Abuse Acts. Click here for the appellate court's decision (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader). Gibson Research Corporation (Shields Up, etc.) has been at the forefront of the anti-spyware campaign. *BugBear Worm Alert* -- 10/04/2002 A new worm is spreading rapidly. Bugbear@mm is a mass-mailing worm. It can spread through network shares. It has keystroke-logging and backdoor capabilities. The worm also attempts to terminate the processes of various anti-virus and firewall programs. Click here for a link to more information about this threat. *Security Alert* --
09/09/2002 This is the first Service Pack (SP1) for Microsoft Windows XP (all versions). It fixes a number of issues with XP and also makes changes which allows Microsoft to comply with recent DOJ (Department of Justice) rulings in the Microsoft Anti-Trust case. There are several significant changes which should be noted here. The SP1 fixes a security hole which lets anyone put a link on a website that can wipe out certain hard drive directories. Microsoft has known about this for months! The SP1 increases support for the USB 2.0 standard and the .NET initiative. There are many other bug fixes and changes including a new version of Microsoft Messenger. Microsoft does recommend you install this patch, but there seems to be an unusually high number of reported problems after updating to SP1. If you choose to update, please be sure you create a new System Restore Point before running the installation. If your system starts acting up, System Restore should get you back to where you were before the problems began. If you do not have a fast Internet connection to download the SP1 update (the full update is a HUGE file of nearly 140MB, but there is an express installer which is about 30MB), then you have several other choices:
It should be noted that, as always, there have been some problems reported with installing the SP1. Some administrators and a few major manufacturers are taking the "wait and see" approach to SP1. In most cases, it should install without problem, but nothing is guaranteed when it comes to Microsoft software. At the very least, be sure you plug this security hole!The Gigger JavaScript Worm poses as a Microsoft Outlook upgrade. Click here for the full story. Non-Required Service
Pack-- 09/06/2002 This is the third Service Pack for Windows 2000 and updates all versions from SP1 on. This is a non-required update and generally falls into the "don't fix it if it ain't broke" category. Please click here for a complete list of fixes in SP3. If you have an issue which SP3 addresses, then go ahead and make the update. If you do not have a fast Internet connection to download the Windows 2000 SP3 update (the express installer runs from about 22MB up to 34MB depending on your version of Windows 2000 and which updates you already have installed), then you have several other choices:
It should be noted that, as always, there have been some problems reported with installing the SP3. Some administrators and a few major manufacturers are taking the "wait and see" approach to SP3. In most cases, it should install without problem, but nothing is guaranteed when it comes to Microsoft software. What should you do when a lightning storm approaches. Click here for the experience.
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