Klarinet Archive - Posting 000223.txt from 2002/05

From: Jeremy A Schiffer <schiffer@-----.edu>
Subj: RE: Re: [kl] Virus - ADDITIONAL WARNING!!!
Date: Wed, 8 May 2002 18:51:19 -0400

On Wed, 8 May 2002, Mark Charette wrote:

> The virus looks at the infected person's address book, picks a random person
> for the "From" line, and then sends the virus to everyone in the book.
> People who share similar interests will of course tend to get viruses from
> each other.
>
> Please don't spread rumours. I've got a hard enough time as it is telling
> people the list isn't spreading viruses - we don't need some "scam" ruours
> on top of that ...
>
> Mark C.

Mark is correct. This type of stuff is what I do for a living (well, until
the clarinet playing picks up a bit...), and that is the way the klez
variants operate. To make sure you're safe, in addition to running updated
versions of virus protection software (ie, Norton Anti-Virus) with
up-to-date virus definitions (the most critical part!), you should make
sure all of your security patches are in place. To do so, go to
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com and follow the directions there. It
will scan your system and tell you what you need to install. You should
always install everything listed as "critical updates" even if it means
having to reboot ypur computer several times in the process.

Would it be possible for the list administrators to configure the
server to either reject messages with attachments or to convert them to
text-plain? This is a standard precaution that many ISP's are adopting
nowadays.

-Jeremy

----------------------------------------------------------------
Jeremy A. Schiffer
AcIS Security Administrator
Columbia University
212-854-2903
AcIS Nextel *75

Please direct all computer security related queries to
security@-----.

---------------------------------------------------------------------