Friday, December 28, 2007

VIRUS ALERT!

“Happy-2008.exe”
Storm Worm’s New Years Greeting

Many of us are winding down in these last days of 2007. Christmas has come and gone; store bargains have either been missed or had by now. In the tech world, things are relatively quiet.
The biggest ‘buz’ has been the Queen of England creating her own YouTube channel proof that the Internet is here to stay. When 1000-year old monarchies ‘adopt’, the technological shifts are confirmed. The Queen also saw fit to deliver a message via her new ‘web presence’. Her first ‘invitation’ was sent via YouTube eMail to her son Prince Charles. I’ll bet he was thrilled.
The next ‘big thing’ on the tech horizon is the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is not happening for a week or two. The latest and greatest tech will be on display; trend-casting will be based on what shows up there. Tech-wise, the only other imminent news is the newly minted bargains in computers and computer related equipment that begins around the twentieth of January. It is always a thrill to buy a brand new machine for more than half-off the October-November price. One of the rare times in the tech world where patience is rewarded.
So why am I breaking with Tradition and bothering my Editor during such a pleasant down-time season? The answer is simple and the reason is clear. There is a lingering danger out there in computer-land. A resurgence of a Trojan Virus that by all rights should by now have been rendered benign. By late August the ‘Storm Worm’ had infected over 10 million machines and effected networks and ISPs in 108 countries.
It is a ‘bot’ exploit which turns your machine into a spammer’s tool. It has some nasty implications, but simply put, if you were infected, your machine would slow down as if molasses hard replaced your processors. Everything would take longer. There were decent ‘fixes’ and by mid-September most in the tech world thought it had been rendered useless. By October ‘the Storm’ was no more than a small squall.
Like that lingering summer cold, it had staying power, though. Most anti-virus programmes even the worst of them like MacAfee and Norton had developed protection, and security experts thought it was finished. At the worst it was a malingering annoyance for the most part easily dealt with.
For the digerati who follow such things; it seemed another challenge to Web security was thwarted and not something to worry about. Happily for all of us, there are a core group of internet security heroes, who live, breathe and follow every virus and permutation thereof. There had been some postings on internet boards about potential dangers but everyone was lulled. Myself included.
Then the first “Storm” arrived late Christmas Eve. I was blissfully unaware. By mid-morning Christmas day, my in-box was overflowing with questions and queries from our loyal Bulldog readers. The newly opened computers delivered by Santa had some problems. That is not all that unusual.
It was not until late afternoon that I began to see a pattern. Our readers had received eMails with headings like: merrychristmasdude.com, which was in fact the Email-Worm.Win32.Zhelatin.pd. It was a ‘re-direct’ and you did not need to do more than open up an eMail to become a part of the nefarious scheme.
Aside from some delayed enjoyment though this seemed to be little more than an annoyance and not a serious security problem. I followed up and most people who were ‘hit by the Storm’ were back in action in a relatively short time. I was alerted that the ‘Storm Worm’ had staying power.
Without going into details what I want to let you know is this. The forecast for New Year’s Eve is ‘Storm’. Here is what to look for and how to protect yourselves and your families.
Update your anti-virus programmes over the week-end. The problem with this particular Trojan Virus is your anti-virus cannot protect you from opening an infected eMail.
Beware any eMails that have this in the heading or Subject: happy2008.exe, happy-2008.exe, happynewyear2008.exe. Or ‘UHavePostCard’.
If you find yourselves being inadvertently directed to a web site that has the following address: newyearcards2008.com, close down your browser IMMEDIATELY.
If despite the warnings and your precautions you find your computer is running excessively slowly on New Year’s Day or shortly thereafter, then here are two actions you can take.
Download Microsoft’s Malicious Software Removal Tool at: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=ad724ae0-e72d-4f54-9ab3-75b8eb148356&displaylang=en
I know this is a long URL, but it will take you straight to the sight. The download times are:
dial-up, about 20 minutes.
DSL/Cable, about 5 minutes
I wish all my friends and Bulldog readers a Very Happy 2008. A “Storm” Free, healthy, happy and prosperous New Year!
If you have any questions about this or other computer problems you can eMail me @ guygriscom@gmail.com or for any of my new or former Bulldog articles you can find them at:
http://bulldogtipstricks.blogspot.com/