Spam and Viruses

[Jiggles]

Hello Everyone,

Every week i'm going to tell you about the latest spam and viruses to keep you all clear. If you find somthing i dont feel free to post it up.

[Jiggles]

Heres the first one.


Security threats to mobile devices are increasing and will reach critical proportions within the next 18 months, What PC? reports.

Experts say malware that targets devices such as smartphones, laptops and PDAs has increased 30 percent since the beginning of 2006.

As the sophistication of mobile devices catches up with that of PCs they will contain more sensitive data and increase the security threat significantly.

"Give it another year and mobile security will be an issue. Blueshooting from a malicious device can steal data from another Bluetooth-enabled mobile device without the victim even knowing. Bluetooth was not designed with security in mind and varies from device to device, making it easier to target than to fix. The only way to protect against the threat is to switch it off," said one expert.

"I guess you could call it the new frontier; we are living in a mobile community and I think we will see more mobile device threats," said an FBI agent focused on cyber crime.

[Jiggles]

Watch out :mad:

Discovered: August 2, 2006
Updated: August 3, 2006 04:26:16 PM GDT
Type: Worm
Infection Length: 44,544 bytes
Systems Affected: Windows 2000, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP


W32.Hocgaly.A@mm is a mass-mailing worm that gathers email addresses from the compromised computer. It may also perform a denial of service attack against predetermined Web sites.


ProtectionVirus Definitions (LiveUpdate™ Daily) August 3, 2006

Virus Definitions (LiveUpdate™ Weekly) August 9, 2006

Virus Definitions (Intelligent Updater) August 3, 2006

Virus Definitions (LiveUpdate™ Plus) August 3, 2006

Threat AssesmentWildWild Level: Low

Number of Infections: 0 - 49

Number of Sites: 0 - 2

Geographical Distribution: Low

Threat Containment: Easy

Removal: Easy

Damage Level: Low

Payload: Performs a denial of service attack against predetermined Web sites.

Large Scale E-mailing: Sends a copy of itself to email addresses gathered
from the compromised computer.

Compromises Security Settings: Attempts to disable security settings

DistributionDistribution Level: Low

Subject of Email: Hot Girls! Name of Attachment: Varies

Size of Attachment: Varies

[DMX Will]

If your worried about viruses/spyware infecting your system. Be advised you will be totally safe if you have the following installed:

For Virus Attacks...

AVG Free AntiVirus - yes the free version, will cover you better than a £50 copy of Norton, and doesn't eat your system resources. Im so confident I run it on both of my company servers. - http://free.grisoft.com

For Spyware Attacks...

Ad-aware Personal - Run a "Smart Scan" on your computer say once a month, or if your suspecting spyware, run a "Full System Scan". Remember spyware isnt meant to be obvious all the time. - http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

And as Ad-aware will only pick up 99.9% of spyware, also have a copy of

Spybot Search and Destroy - Run if Ad-aware doesn't pick up anything, and you suspect spyware, of just want to be sure. - http://www.download.com/3000-8022-10289035.html

For General Attacks and Firewall protection...

Zone Alarm Firewall - The free copy will do, when it randomly pops up asking you to allow or deny things, read it through, if your recognise the application, allow it, if you dont, and its called "spyinstaller" or something obvious, don't allow it. If unsure ask. - http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/catalog/products/sku_list_za.jsp?dc=12bms&ctry=GB&lang=en&lid=nav_za

and if you can afford it and want to be double sure

Zone Alarm Security Suite - Scans both viruses and spyware automatically and has the Zone Alarm firewall. Also included is program control, mail checking and also IM security (for AIM, MSN, ICQ and YIM). - http://www.zonelabs.com/store/application?namespace=zls_catalog&origin=global.jsp&event=link.skuList&dc=12bms&ctry=GB&lang=en&lid=nav_ss

^^ It may have everything, but a combination of different programs and brands is always a good idea.

So there you have it, the complete free way to keeping your system safe, virus and spyware free, and also a non-free program to add in. If you go for the Zone Alarm Suite, you may aswell have the other programs (excluding Zone Alarm) aswell, None of these programs eat your system resources (and slow your machine) like Norton and McAfee have been known to do.


If you need help. Ask :)

Record for longest post?

[Jiggles]

Record for longest post?

No there been longer

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

A lot longer....

[Corabar Entertainment]

Yep - we've had plenty of Ariston posts on here! (Younger members will be sitting there thinking "What's she going on about?" :confused: :D )

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

And on and on....

[DMX Will]

well that spoilt my fun

[Corabar Steve]

And on and on....


Da Da Da :teeth:

[Creature]

dont forget with antivirus & spyware progs, they dont stop everything you MUST do a manual scan daily or weekly. The more you download the higher the risk so therefore scan manually more regular.

can recommend panda antivirus platinum (dont use there firewall) and spyware doctor :) both not freebies but with auto scans and weekly manual scans have kept me pc in tip top condition

[Thames Valley Discos]

Panda is really good, does daily updates. But worth a scan here http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx
from time to time aswel

[Harrison's Discos]

Im not sure why, but I fail to see that nobody has mentioned 'Windows Defender Anti Spyware Beta 2'. Maybe because this may not be the best virus protector, but it certainly does the job for me. If anyone is affended by the first line please dont be. I am just trying to suggest another anti virus programme. Further information about this programme can be found on www.microsoft.com You can then click on downloads on the right hand side and look for 'Windows Defender Beta 2'.

Thanks for reading.

[DMX Will]

I tried this out at one point, I found it interigated my system a bit too much (constantly asking questions etc) Windows Anti-Spyware, is a constantly running/scanning spyware program, not like the ones I mentioned which scan your system when you tell it too. Personally i would rather keep my system rescourses for high-end apps rather than something I can do myself manually. Just a personal prefrence.

A reason people might not use Microsoft Anti-Spyware (as mentioned in Harrison's post (aka [email protected]) is because its still in beta, meaning its not completely finished/released officially. Most un-experienced users get scared, and would rather use a program they can trust.

[Harrison's Discos]

Thankyou Will, your reply is much appreciated. I do not worry about Microsofts' software, because I know it can be trusted because, after all, Microsoft make computers LOL.


Always a possitive responce.

[DMX Will]

Microsoft make computers LOL

They make the operating system, and there are alternatives (Mac OSX, Linux, Unix etc)

But we'll let you have that one ;)

[Harrison's Discos]

Thankyou :teeth:

[DMX Will]

Thankyou :teeth:
Your welcome :)

As you are to every other question you have asked on msn :teeth:

[Jiggles]

More security up dates:


Aggressive mobile worm uses alarming new tricks
Online August 8, 2006

A new variant of an aggressive Russian mobile worm that uses some alarming new tricks has been detected, IT World Canada reports.

Like its earlier relatives, Commwarrior.Q will jump onto another phone using a short-range Bluetooth wireless connection. It also spreads via MMS or by an infected memory card inserted into a device.

Commwarrior.Q is not spreading widely. But the worm has new traits that make it particularly aggressive and it appears to be one of the most complex pieces of mobile malware created to date.

Commwarrior.Q will continuously send MMS messages from midnight to 7 a.m. to people in an infected phone's address book. It cleverly assembles a text message from the phone's "sent" file, making it appear legitimate.

After 7 a.m., however, Commwarrior.Q stops that action, as it would be noticeable to the user. It then starts scanning other phones to infect via Bluetooth.

Commwarrior.Q will infect any Symbian OS application installation files, called SIS files. Unlike its predecessors, the SIS files that Commwarrior.Q infects take on random names, making them harder to identify.





Microsoft patches 23 Windows & Office vulnerabilities
Online August 9, 2006

Microsoft released a dozen fixes on its scheduled patch day, closing 10 critical security holes and another 13 noncritical flaws in the latest versions of the company's software, SecurityFocus reports.

A cumulative fix for Internet Explorer was among the patches, updating Microsoft's browser to eliminate 3 critical vulnerabilities and 5 other flaws. Other remotely exploitable vulnerabilities include a flaw in the Windows server service and the operating system's domain-name resolution.

The company also patched two critical flaws in PowerPoint 2000 and another in Office 2000, bringing the total number of Office flaws fixed by Microsoft in 2006 to 27.

The U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) announced Tuesday morning that the federal response group had become aware of some attackers exploiting at least one of the vulnerabilities, but no other information was immediately available.






Google launches malware warnings
Online August 8, 2006

Google has started warning users if they are about to visit a webpage that could harm their computer, BBC NEWS reports.

The warning will pop up if users click on a link to a site identified as harmful by the Stop Badware coalition.

Initially the warnings seen via the search site will be generic and simply alert people to the fact that a site has been flagged as dangerous. Eventually the warnings will become more detailed as Stop Badware researchers visit harmful sites and analyse how they try to subvert users' machines.

The warning suggests that people try a different site but if they want to continue to the potentially dangerous webpage Google will not stop them.

Another company ScanSafe has also created the Scandoo search engine which overlays its warnings on results produced via Google and MSN.

[theoloyla]

dont forget with antivirus & spyware progs, they dont stop everything you MUST do a manual scan daily or weekly. The more you download the higher the risk so therefore scan manually more regular.

can recommend panda antivirus platinum (dont use there firewall) and spyware doctor :) both not freebies but with auto scans and weekly manual scans have kept me pc in tip top condition
I too use Panda and find it excellent. Much better than Norton which I used to use. But what's wrong with using Panda's Firewall?

[BeerFunk]

I must be the only one who doesn't use any anti-virus or (software) firewall?! I have a firewall on my router, and that's it. The only way I'm going to get hit is if I'm specifically targeted (highly unlikely), but then, there's no software which will keep out a determined pro hacker. Scary, but true!

You can get viruses from many dodgy sites, and those that I know of I have blocked access to, on my router :)

[Jiggles]

Brave man Brave man

[DMX Will]

Always better to run both, as do I. Another good one (if running a cobination of servers and clients on a network) is black ice.

[Jiggles]

heres one via email heres the thing I dont have an ebay account



eBay Unpaid Item Mutual Agreement: #7132017949 - Response Required



Response Required

We are contacting you about the following item: COMPLETE Horse Travel Set BARGAIN 6'0" (#7132017949)

The seller, the-whitehouse tells us you have mutually agreed not to complete the transaction (e.g. because you returned or are returning the item for a refund or because there was a misunderstanding) and has requested a credit for their eBay fees.

Please respond by 28-Aug-2006 so eBay knows whether you have agreed.

Respond to this notice:

Respond to this notification

Please note: you and the seller will still be able to leave feedback for each other regarding this transaction.


Regards,
eBay
eBay treats your personal information with the utmost care, and our Privacy Policy is designed to protect you and your information. eBay will never ask their users for personal information, such as bank account numbers, credit card numbers, pin numbers, passwords, or Social Security numbers in an email. For more information on how to protect your eBay password and your account, please visit User Account Protection.
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Copyright © 1995-2006 eBay Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners.
eBay and the eBay logo are trademarks of eBay Inc.

[DMX Will]

lol, note ebay always uses your username is emails, this one clearly doesnt.

[Have a disco]

I must be the only one who doesn't use any anti-virus or (software) firewall?! I have a firewall on my router, and that's it. The only way I'm going to get hit is if I'm specifically targeted (highly unlikely), but then, there's no software which will keep out a determined pro hacker. Scary, but true!

You can get viruses from many dodgy sites, and those that I know of I have blocked access to, on my router :)

Im on AOL viruschecker and firewall which they use MCafee but it costs £2.50 a month extra I may go back to Norton Internet Security in January as Im not impressed so far

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

AVG Badger - does the job and it's free!

[Have a disco]

I know AVG is good but NAV Internet security is the better out there would rather buy it and just renew it once a year than expect trouble AVG was attacked big time earlier in the year

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

I know AVG is good but NAV Internet security is the better out there would rather buy it and just renew it once a year than expect trouble AVG was attacked big time earlier in the year

I used Norton for years and it uses too many system resources.

What do you mean "AVG was attacked big time"?

Why would someone want to attack an anti-virus program?

I thought viruses attacked computers, not programs?

I've used it for a couple of years and have to say I didn't notice any 'big time attack' on my PCs.

[dj_ags]

I use NTL Netguard, and it is adequate for my needs. Automatically updates itself every 3 hours and has now moved on to offer a Spyware programme and a Firewall.