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Misconceptions [message #64060]

Fri, 30 January 2004 06:59

HeXetic
Messages: 8
Registered: November 2003
Location: Toronto, Canada

Karma:

Recruit

A couple of misconceptions to clear up.

- MyDoom "works" because it looks like a ZIP file - not the more recognizeable EXE or BAT or VBS or COM or SCR etc. files - to the unfortunate shmuck who gets it in the mail. My own dad double-clicked on it even though I've told him in the past not to do stuff like that (happily, he doesn't have administrative privileges on the computer, so the virus couldn't actually do anything).

- The "from" address in pretty much all virus and spam e-mails is forged. If the mail says it's "FROM: hexetic@planetcnc.com" it was probably sent from a 286 in the mountains of Tibet. Various schemes are used to come up with the fake return address; sometimes it's random, sometimes the viruses use previously harvested e-mail addresses. It's all just to make the virus look a little more real and *also* create more havoc by generating throusands of "bounce" messages (sent by the mailserver when a mesage can't be delivered) or "returned mail" messages (sent by the mailserver when it thinks the e-mail has a virus - of course the guy to whom the mailserver returns the mail is almost certainly not the guy who's infected).

- The #1 best way to improve your safety if you use Outlook Express is to get a virus scanner. All of them are good, provided you get the updates and configure the virus scanner to either clean or delete infected attachments; unfortunately the default action is often "try to clean" (which fails if there's nothing to clean i.e. the file is 100% virus) then pass. I prefer Trend PC-Cillin (comes free with a lot of motherboards) myself. The #2 best way to improve your safety is to turn off the Preview Pane, which is The Root Of All Evil - View->Layout->Preview Pane.

- MyDoom doesn't automagically infect you if you open the e-mail, thank goodness. You have to actually double-click on the attachment to get whacked.

- If you run with User or Power User privileges only (Win2K and WinXP), then you can't get infected as you don't have the ability to install programs - including viruses like MyDoom.

Co-Director
Planet Command & Conquer
http://www.planetcnc.com/

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[Message index]

		Warning: Spy Virus Spreading By: Matt2405 on Fri, 30 January 2004 00:03
		Warning: Spy Virus Spreading By: Xtrm2Matt on Fri, 30 January 2004 00:42
		Re: Warning: Spy Virus Spreading By: msgtpain on Fri, 30 January 2004 01:57
		Warning: Spy Virus Spreading By: Aircraftkiller on Fri, 30 January 2004 02:06
		Warning: Spy Virus Spreading By: Sk8rRIMuk on Fri, 30 January 2004 02:50
		Warning: Spy Virus Spreading By: England on Fri, 30 January 2004 03:30
		Warning: Spy Virus Spreading By: Majiin Vegeta on Fri, 30 January 2004 04:30
		Warning: Spy Virus Spreading By: NHJ BV on Fri, 30 January 2004 05:47
		Warning: Spy Virus Spreading By: snipesimo on Fri, 30 January 2004 05:58
		Warning: Spy Virus Spreading By: Deactivated on Fri, 30 January 2004 06:01
		Warning: Spy Virus Spreading By: Yano on Fri, 30 January 2004 06:35
		Misconceptions By: HeXetic on Fri, 30 January 2004 06:59
		Warning: Spy Virus Spreading By: MrBob on Fri, 30 January 2004 16:09
		Re: Misconceptions By: gibberish on Fri, 30 January 2004 16:59
		Warning: Spy Virus Spreading By: Ferhago on Sat, 31 January 2004 07:10
		Warning: Spy Virus Spreading By: Scythar on Sat, 31 January 2004 08:51
		Warning: Spy Virus Spreading By: Matt2405 on Sat, 31 January 2004 09:41
		Warning: Spy Virus Spreading By: Jaspah on Sat, 31 January 2004 13:38
		Warning: Spy Virus Spreading By: IRON FART on Sat, 31 January 2004 14:02
		WRF???? By: TAKAVAR on Sat, 31 January 2004 20:28
		Warning: Spy Virus Spreading By: TAKAVAR on Sat, 31 January 2004 21:17
		Warning: Spy Virus Spreading By: sniper12345 on Sat, 31 January 2004 21:24
		Warning: Spy Virus Spreading By: exnyte on Sat, 31 January 2004 23:42

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