Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: Code Red & Viruses in General - a plea

I don't really bother too much worrying about viruses because I trust myself
enough to not download, visit or open anything I don't feel is 'safe'. The
information I posted on came from a very doubtable news bulletin and then
later from a Microsoft representative. I was quite tired at the time, if I
wasn't I'd have checked out how much of the stuff was right first.

John

> Having been a member of a number of lists like this for a few years, I

have

> seen a good many warnings about viruses - both hoaxes & real warnings. A
> common feature of many of these warning messages is the poor quality of

the

> information that they propagate about the nature of the virus itself, how
> it operates, and how to protect against it. This is not surprising, as in
> many cases, the messages have been posted by people that are not virus
> experts, who have themselves often been "informed" by non-experts.
>
> There are a number of companies that ARE expert in the handling of

viruses,

> and protection against them, that also offer Web-based resources that

carry

> real, up-to-date, information about current virus threats & how to deal
> with them. Symantec (who sell the Norton antivirus products) and Macafee
> are but two examples.
>
> PLEASE, when you wish to inform others about virus threats, point them at
> those resources, rather than propagating what may prove to be uninformed
> guesses based on misinformation. In the case of Code Red, the words that
> Symantec have to say about it can be found at:
>
> http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/codered.worm.html
>
> You will also find a write-up on the W32.sircam.worm virus at:
>
> http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.sircam.worm@...
>
> Symantec has a searchable encyclopedia of viruses and virus hoaxes at:
>
> http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/vinfodb.html
>
> Searching this encyclopedia (or the equivalent on the Macafee site, etc)
> when someone warns you of a virus can save you the embarrassment of
> perpetrating a hoax (probably 90% of the virus warnings I have seen in
> recent years have been hoaxes - not true of the two mentioned above

though)

> and will allow you to either push back on the guy that sent you a hoax
> warning, or provide real information to those you wish to warn of a real
> threat.
>
> Perpetrating incomplete and/or inaccurate information simply plays into

the

> hands of the virus writers/hoaxers by increasing the general level of
> disruption and confusion. A good example here was a recent hoax warning
> that I received, which, if you carried out its instructions to rid

yourself

> of the "virus", would actually result in you deleting a perfectly good and
> useful part of your Windows operating system. The guy that sent it to me
> had already damaged his system in his ignorance; looking at the
> encyclopedia would have saved him the trouble, and would have also avoided
> him the major embarrassment of having to tell 150 or so of his friends,
> colleauges & acquaintances that he had sent them a hoax warning.
>
> Apologies to those for whom this is "motherhood & apple pie"...
>
> Regards,
> Tony
>
> At 06:59 01/08/2001 +0000, you wrote:
> >Yesterday at 1pm (Or 1am) UK time, remembering we're around 5 - 6 hours
> >ahead of the US, a new virus was released in the US called Code Red.

Within

> >hours Microsoft had got to work on a patch after recieving thousands of
> >emails about it. The virus is designed to cause maximum damage to the
> >internet, not really your computer. It waits in your MEMORY, not the

disk,

> >so all you need do is turn your computer off, wait a few minutes just to

be

> >sure, then turn it back on. I don't kno why they person didn't write it

to

> >store itself on the hard disk. They were worried as the virus spreads

very

> >easily, I'm not sure how though, probably through email. All the virus

does

> >is slow down your internet access. I guess it either does something to

the

> >modem or tries sending a bunch of pings to things like search engines to
> >slow them down as well. Combine a few big servers and target one search
> >engine, bombard it with useless junk and you can almost stop it. Combine

a

> >few hundred thousand or even millions of normal computers and you have

some

> >serious stopping power. Anyhow, just thought you might want to know.

Since

> >the virus waits in the RAM it won't need to install itself I don't think

so

> >avoid emails from people you don't know for a while.
>
>
>
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