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Advisories
 Virus
Alert
I
Love You Bubble
Boy KakWorm
Hoaxes
05/04/00
- I Love You - Love Letter Virus
A new strain of
virus is permeating the Internet even as you read this
message. This virus attacks Windows computers
which use Outlook Express as the mail client, and executes
malicious code ****without opening an attachment.
Merely by reading an infected message you can spread the virus
to your computer and many others, without your knowledge. This
virus is similiar to the 'Kak-worm' virus, and is only one of
the first to come of this new strain. In our own testing lab,
here at Quik Internet, we have discovered that possibly all
strains of this new virus can be avoided by performing these
simple steps:
1. Open
Start>Settings>Control Panel>Internet Options (or
'Internet Tools')
2. Select the 'Security' tab at the top of the configuration
window.
3. Select the button, 'Custom level'.
4. Scroll down the list of options until you see 'Script
ActiveX controls marked safe for scripting', and select to
'Disable' this option. Click 'OK'.
After performing these steps, if you receive a virus of this
particular strain, you should see an error message, that
indicates that an ActiveX control in the message is unsafe,
and won't be run. You should then alert the person who sent
you the email that they have the virus, and forward this
message to them for removal and preventative maintenance.
If you already have the virus,
you should follow this link, to find out more detailed
information, and removal procedures from icsa.net:
http://www.icsa.net/html/press_related/2000/05_04_00_loveletter.shtml
This virus is no a hoax, and is
malevolent to computer systems. You should protect yourself
immediately from this new threat, and take steps to ensure you
are not already infected.
04/19/00
You may have the Kakworm virus
We have seen widespread
infections of computers with the new insidious virus, the 'Kakworm'.
This is the first wild strain of a new type of virus which can
infect your computer without running or opening an
attachment. The virus spreads itself by attaching to
emails sent out by you as an ActiveX control, embedded in the
email. Protect yourself now, or remove this virus from your
system with the following links:
Microsoft Kakworm virus patch:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms99-032.asp
Symantec manual removal procedures:
http://www.sarc.com/avcenter/venc/data/wscript.kakworm.html
It is also notable that you may be able to prevent catching
the virus by setting your Internet security configuration in
Control Panel to not run ActiveX content automatically.
11/15/99
Bubbleboy Infects By Reading Email
Up until now, the general
rule was that you could not be infected by a virus sent to you
in email, unless you executed an attached program. The
Bubbleboy virus has changed that. This new type of virus can
infect your computer even if you only read the email messsage
that carries it. This virus has so far not been detected in
any known computer systems outside of it's test environments,
save for one Japanese web site which was apparently infected,
but has been inoculated. Following is an article found on the
'Call For Help' web site of Ziff-Davis Television:
Beware of Bubbleboy
By Michelle Von Wald
 This
recently detected virus is named after a character in a
Seinfeld episode, but it isn't too funny. Unlike most viruses
that pop up each day, this is noteworthy because it is the
first time you can become infected just by reading your email.
It negates previous advice that you could only be contaminated
by opening email attachments. Bubbleboy changes this.
The virus was sent anonymously to an antivirus software firm
and is not in the wild. This means that users have not
complained about it infecting their computers.
The good news is that it doesn't work if you have all of the
latest Windows updates. The critical patch is the ActiveX
Eyedog, which updates for security vulnerabilities.
Follow these steps to update Windows 98:
- Open Internet Explorer
- Go to Tools
- Go to Windows Update
- Check all security patches
listed under critical updates
Windows 3x/9x/NT users can get
information and patch download links at the Microsoft
site.
Download the necessary Microsoft patch directly. It's
called "Update for "scriptlet.typelib/Eyedog
Vulnerability."
We recommend downloading
the latest Norton Antivirus 2000. It automatically scans for
any email viral threat.
This virus does not affect Macs.
Here is a link to more information about this virus, from
ZDTV Cybercrime News:
http://www.zdnet.com/zdtv/cybercrime/news/story/0,3700,2391415,00.html
Technical
Info
Watch this space for
updates
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