Hello All, I just want to expand this dialog to include Spy Viruses. I recd what seemed a helpful e mail offering a driver to enhance my web downloads at triple the speed etc. It was free. I downloaded and installed it, but it did not seem to make any difference. I then started to get all sorts of promo e mail messages, others were e mailing me saying I sent them messages when I had not, and when Web browsing I got unwanted sites automatically coming in over the top of what I was looking at, and I could not stop them, erase them, close them etc, without a complete reboot, and then next time I went into the Web or email it started all over again.
Techo's say when I downloaded the Web enhancer I downloaded a Spy Virus into my PC, (not on the server) and then whenever I accessed email or Web browser from my PC it came to life and sent messages from my PC to a site in the USA which then flooded me with promo and e mails and basically shut me down. Without me touching the keyboard the techo's showed me on the server screen all the e mails and promo junk being routed thru my PC from the USA and going out to annoy others. It did not cause any corruption to files HDD etc, just a continual nuisance. Techo's have not been able to locate the spy virus to eradicate it. It is hidden inside a file somewhere. Normal virus and spy ware checkers can not find it, so techo's have set up an elaborate firewall screen on the server to stop all the unwanted junk getting in and out. You can now buy specific "Spy Virus" detection software to stop them coming into your PC in disguise, as once inside your PC they are hard to find and eradicate. SO BEWARE OF STRANGERS OFFERING YOU GIFTS. Regards, Ted Burbidge -----Original Message----- From: Shay Telfer [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, 3 December 2002 1:24 To: wamug@wamug.org.au Subject: Re: klez message >I got this today: > >[...] >It came with attachements which will not forward and I have not touched: > >HTML.pif >_tn_Brewer+Twins+-+7[1].htm Good idea. It's actually a virus payload. If you a) had a PC, and b) had believed the e-mail and allowed it through your virus checker your machine would be infected. >============================ >I simply ask, how does this get to me? Someone who has either received an e-mail from you either directly, on a list, or your e-mail has just randomly been pulled off a web page by the virus. > Do I have the darn thing? No. You, after all have a Mac :) > I am >now getting the occasional email not intended for me and from people I have >sent emails to in the past. Its a worry because I suspect I am >inadvertently passing on some bug that will affect the PC users I correspond >with. What is the best action to take? Only if you forward the attachments to them. Or if you open a Microsoft document infected with a macro virus which then forwards itself to them, or infects all your other Microsoft documents. Options are * Don't use Microsoft products (Word, Microsoft Exchange, etc.) * If prompted, *don't* allow macros to execute in Microsoft products when opening new documents. * Run a virus checker regularly (Virex etc.) and keep the virus definitions updated! * Don't open any attachments you aren't expecting, even if they come from someone you know (especially if they're in a strangely worded message) Have fun, Shay -- =========================== Shay Telfer ================================ Perth, Western Australia Technomancer It must be bunnies! Opinions for hire [POQ] [EMAIL PROTECTED] fnord -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.html> Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.html> Unsubscribe - <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
