Virus - From subscribers of RCTN

Some of you are less experienced with computers.

I just got 235 virus emails . . . 34kb apiece (so you can watch for
them) FROM: lots of forged addresses of members of RCTN. I recognized
many, many of them.

All of the addresses may not be forged. Some of you may actually HAVE
the virus and its replicating in your Outlook address book as I write this.

I'm posting this because some of you will undoubtedly get these emails
and might be tempted. DON'T open them. At the very least, don't
use/open any files contained within.

Dianne

I will reiterate what Dianne has cautioned and then some!!

NEVER ever open any attached file, _especially_ when you "think" you
know who sent them! There are many viri that "spoof" email addresses so
they seem to originate from someone you (may) know. These computer viri
randomly take addresses (usually) from the Outlook address book (if it
exists -- I've never used it!) of an infected computer and forge the
"to" & "from" email addresses to make the message appear to originate
from someone other than the virus (I hope I made sense?).

Sadly, I receive more than 60-100+ emails a day from folk I don't know
and do know -- subject lines range from body endowments to prescription
medications to mortgages, and then some more - or NONE! Definitely
beware of emails that have attachments and strange subject lines with
simple headings of "Hi" or even left empty. Suspect any and every
attachment unless it's definitely known otherwise.

Another warning - ALWAYS BACKUP YOUR IMPORTANT DATA FILES (yes, I
shouted!). Too many times, I've seen people lose their data because
they didn't keep backup copies on "movable" media (yes, even I'm
guilty). So, when you save a file to the hard drive, be sure to save
it, as well, to some sort of moveable media (zip disk, CD, floppy,
isolated HDD, ftp site, whatever!).

Oh, another reminder (read warning???), for folks who use M$ Windows, be
sure to run (and frequently check for) the "windows updates" feature for
Windows critical updates (this does NOT include Windows 95, 98, and ME
-- M$ no longer supports those operating systems). Just two weeks ago
or more, M$ announced that a few "critical" updates were released on
20040413 (read April 13, 2004).

As I mentioned earlier, BACKUP your data!!! If a computer gets
"attacked" by hackers or viri, then it's usually to late to backup your
data to a moveable media!!!!

Sweet Stitching!!!!!!!

Helen (Skyhooks)
hmardis "aht" uiuc "daught" edu

"reply to" address munged -- read line above for correct addy.

TFTD: Good things turn up when both corners of your mouth do the same!

P.S. It's important to have good virus-scanning software and ESPECIALLY
more so to keep it up to date! If the anti-virus software isn't kept up
to date, then it's useless.

P.P.S. I'm a converted secretary who now fixes computers at work -
gosh, in a way, I miss WordPerfect and I resent losing my WP skills,
sort of!

Dianne Lewandowski wrote:

Some of you are less experienced with computers.

I just got 235 virus emails . . . 34kb apiece (so you can watch for
them) FROM: lots of forged addresses of members of RCTN. I recognized
many, many of them.

All of the addresses may not be forged. Some of you may actually HAVE
the virus and its replicating in your Outlook address book as I write this.

I'm posting this because some of you will undoubtedly get these emails
and might be tempted. DON'T open them. At the very least, don't
use/open any files contained within.

Dianne

I have another e-mail address which I use for the yahoo groups - I never post
there but I find the other addie handy for access. I got a long series of
curious e-mails between Sheena and Fred from "no ps" concerning
Fred's dog and Fred's car - I only read a couple and deleted them.

I was wondering whether other yahoo subscribers got them and whether Fred and
Sheena are aware their names are being taken in vain.(???)

Dora

"Skyhooks" wrote in message

snip
These
computer viri randomly take addresses (usually) from the Outlook
address book (if it exists -- I've never used it!) of an infected
computer and forge the "to" & "from" email addresses to make the
message appear to originate
from someone other than the virus (I hope I made sense?).

Just a couple of additions and corrections...
Most of the viruses around now do not need Outlook or Outlook Express to
send themselves out. They take addresses from many different areas of a
computer including temp files, instant message databases, any address book,
Word files, etc. and use their own SMTP engine to send themselves out.

snip
Oh, another reminder (read warning???), for folks who use M$ Windows,
be sure to run (and frequently check for) the "windows updates"
feature for Windows critical updates (this does NOT include Windows
95, 98, and ME
-- M$ no longer supports those operating systems).

They still provide support for all except Windows 95. They changed their
minds quite awhile back because so many people are still running Win98 and
Me.

From the Microsoft Update website.....

The Microsoft Windows updates found on the site include fixes, updates, and
enhancements to the following Windows operating systems:

Microsoft Windows 98
Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me)
Microsoft Windows XP
Microsoft Windows Server 2003
the 64-bit versions of the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 family

Hope this helps.
--
Jeri
"Change is inevitable, except from vending machines."

Skyhooks had some very interesting things to say
about Virus - From subscribers of RCTN:

NEVER ever open any attached file, _especially_ when you "think" you
know who sent them! There are many viri that "spoof" email addresses so
they seem to originate from someone you (may) know. These computer viri
randomly take addresses (usually) from the Outlook address book (if it
exists -- I've never used it!) of an infected computer and forge the
"to" & "from" email addresses to make the message appear to originate
from someone other than the virus (I hope I made sense?).

That kind of thing is why DH [professional computer guy] will not
permit Outlook or Outlook Express to even *exist* on any computer over
which he has that much control. Nearly every current virus is written
to target Outlook.

--
"Don't mess with major appliances unless you know what you are doing
(or unless your life insurance policy is up-to-date)." - John, RCFL

Seanette Blaylock wrote:


That kind of thing is why DH [professional computer guy] will not
permit Outlook or Outlook Express to even *exist* on any computer over
which he has that much control. Nearly every current virus is written
to target Outlook.

Heh, heh--my DH [professional network security guy]
won't allow Windows on anything in the house ;-)

Best wishes,
Ericka

Ericka Kammerer had some very interesting things to
say about Virus - From subscribers of RCTN:

That kind of thing is why DH [professional computer guy] will not
permit Outlook or Outlook Express to even *exist* on any computer over
which he has that much control. Nearly every current virus is written
to target Outlook.
Heh, heh--my DH [professional network security guy]
won't allow Windows on anything in the house ;-)

[chuckle] Mine isn't quite that bad, even if he *is* a MacPerson by
preference. :-) [I'm on Windows 2000, which seems to be pretty good
for Redmond-ware.]

--
"Don't mess with major appliances unless you know what you are doing
(or unless your life insurance policy is up-to-date)." - John, RCFL

An awful lot of rubbish (spam & virii) come via rctn. I`ve just proved it,
as I`ve set up a new identity specially for rctn and it`s already started
coming through!

Pat P

"Dianne Lewandowski" wrote in message
...
Some of you are less experienced with computers.

I just got 235 virus emails . . . 34kb apiece (so you can watch for
them) FROM: lots of forged addresses of members of RCTN. I recognized
many, many of them.

All of the addresses may not be forged. Some of you may actually HAVE
the virus and its replicating in your Outlook address book as I write
this.

I'm posting this because some of you will undoubtedly get these emails
and might be tempted. DON'T open them. At the very least, don't
use/open any files contained within.

Dianne

I got all those, too! Couldn`t think why they suddenly appeared!!!

Pat P

"Bungadora" wrote in message
...
I have another e-mail address which I use for the yahoo groups - I never
post
there but I find the other addie handy for access. I got a long series of
curious e-mails between Sheena and Fred from "no ps"
concerning
Fred's dog and Fred's car - I only read a couple and deleted them.

I was wondering whether other yahoo subscribers got them and whether Fred
and
Sheena are aware their names are being taken in vain.(???)

Dora