[pyrnet] Virus Info (long - sorry)

[Diana Brown <nixie@mad.scientist.com>]

Phil, and anyone else who thinks they may have a virus

If you have virus-scanning software (a good idea, if you download things from the net, or receive a lot of e-mail from strangers or careless friends), check your virus-company's web site.  Most will allow you to search for a virus by name - and will provide a description of the virus, how to recognize it, and how it works.  This will allow you to check whether simply deleting the file w/o opening it is sufficient.

FYI, I found 6 "Navidad" viruses on the mcafee.com site (where they also keep a library of virus hoaxes).  All 6 names came down to this (directly quoted from the mcafee.com web site): 

"This is an Internet worm which uses MAPI Outlook to spread. It will be received by email as a response to a sent email message to an infected user, with the attachment NAVIDAD.EXE. 

When ran, this worm displays a dialog box entitled, "Error" which reads "UI". A blue eye icon appears in the system tray next to the clock in the lower right corner of the screen, and a copy of the trojan is saved to the file winsvrc.vxd in the WINDOWS SYSTEM directory. The following registry key values are created: "

It goes on to give technical info on what the virus does, how to recognize it, &c.  After reading the description, I realized this is probably the source of the error I encountered on my next-door-neighbor's computer over the weekend.  he was unable to run *any* application that started with an .exe file (as most do).  As a result, he was unable to run Internet Explorer to update his virus checking software, - oh, wait - he didn't *have* virus-checking software.  And, being unable to run the "setup.exe" necessary to install a virus cleaner, he ended up having to format his hard disk and start all over again.

So, Phil, chances are that your computer is not infected. But for all of you - especially at this time of year when we receive so many unidentified "holiday greetings" from folks we haven't heard from in years, stuffing our e-mail boxes with all kinds of unrecognized addresses <s> - please let me remind you that not all viruses are as gentle - some need only arrive in your in-box - never be opened, just arrive - in order to do massive damage to your system.  Make sure you have virus software installed (most virus companies allow you to download a trial version to see if you like it), make sure it is enabled, and make sure your virus libraries are updated.

Check the settings on your virus software - most only check "executable" files - unless you tell them otherwise.  A Word document is a common way of passing viruses - because most folks never set their virus checkers to look at anything but an exe.  The other things that most folks miss is that something like 3,000 new virus are discovered each month.  Therefore, stop by your virus software company's web site once a month or so and download the latest update, so you have the cures for the viruses that are going around *now* - not just the one that went around last year.

Finally, there are many free web-mail providers - since those files don't actually get downloaded to your computer, significantly less chance of contracting a virus.  yahoo.com, hotmail.com, and mail.com (my address is one of the "novelty" domains offered by mail.com - you can find many fun addresses in there <s>) all offer free web-based e-mail accounts - you simply need a way to connect to the internet to get to the mail provider's web site.

Hope this info will help you all have a happier holiday season, and will prevent you having to run to the next-door-computer-geek (as my neighbor did <s>) only to discover that it is "too late."

MANDATORY WARNING ABOUT BACKUPS:

Remember, even if you get a virus, all of the programs on your computer can be reinstalled- the only thing at risk is your data.  For my part, I store all my data in folder in "my documents" - and once a month or so, copy that folder off to a Zip disk.  That way, if my pc dies, gets a virus, or takes a power surge that fries my hard disk, all I have to do is reinstall programs, and copy the info back from my ZIP drive.  A word to the wise.

All the best,
Calysto's Mom Diana
Director of Quality Assurance & Documentation
Legend Information Systems
<g>

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