January 26, 2003 Hello everyone, There's quite a bit of confusion going around about viruses these days - real ones vs fake ones (hoaxes). I'm hoping to educate those of you who may be confused on the differences between the two. My goal is by the year 2025 to never get an email warning me of a virus hoax. To date, in my 10 years in computing, I've only received 2 valid warning from friends/clients. The other 500+ warning were all fakes. I'm sure you all get these emails as well (including the one where Bill Gates will give you $1,000,000 if you forward this email). If you get as many of these as I do, I highly recommend that you forward this email to all your friends, relatives and colleagues so that maybe we can cut down on the amount of panic that is spread warming people of dangers that do not exist. Before forwarding a warning to me (99.9% of the ones that are forwarded to me are hoaxes), please check to see if this is real or not by doing a search on www.google.com or check on Symantec's website: http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html. Here's a constantly updated list of viruses that have come out: http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/vinfodb.html#threat_list . Amazing how many since January 1st!! If you're getting this virus alert and are not subscribed to my FREE newsletter, please do so today. It could save your computer's data in the future!! To subscriber, just send blank email to mailto:thisandthatcomputertips-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Real Virus Threat - SoBig Virus A new virus, known as Sobig, is spreading rapidly Monday on the Internet, infecting machines worldwide. The virus, which appears to attack Windows machines running Microsoft Corp.'s Outlook e-mail client, was first seen late last week but has picked up considerable steam in the last 24 hours. MessageLabs Ltd., a British company that tracks viruses, has seen more than 10,000 copies of Sobig on Monday alone and more than 20,000 copies total. Some users in the United States on Monday were being flooded with virus-infected messages, some receiving as many as 20-30 an hour. I have received five e-mails in two days from "BOSS@BIG.COM" (note, all caps) sample message: Subject: Re: Here is that sample Attached:  "Untitled1.pif" Other examples are as follows: Subject: The subject will be one of these: Re: Movies Re: Sample Re: Document Re: Here is that sample and Attachment: The attachment will be one of these: Movie_0074.mpeg.pif Document003.pif Untitled1.pif Sample.pif Do not open this email - delete - and update your anti-virus software. My anti-virus caught this - so I was not infected. Also, since it came from such a strange source, I wouldn't have opened it. Please read more about virus here: http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.sobig.a@mm.html This virus doesn't not affect people with following operating systems: Macintosh, OS/2, UNIX, Linux Web Design, Web Hosting, Getting your own "name" on the Internet and for Email We do it all in regards to web design: we put you your new site, we update your old site, we host your site and we can help you establish your personalized identity. This is a crowded field and we distinguish ourselves by providing many benefits over the standard shop. First of all, we've had a combined 20+ years surfing the Internet. We know what works and what doesn't. Secondly, having a business degree and being an entrepreneur helps me guide you along the path of what will sell. Thirdly, we must be doing something right as our web design and hosting business tripled in the past year. Lastly, we have a listed phone number on our site and will guide you through any sticky issues over the phone which cannot be resolved over email. Check out our recent work, including a site I'm very excited about - our first artist's site at http://www.itmcomputing.com/samples.html . See our full bevy of Web Design solutions at http://www.helpformywebsite.com . ************************************************ Real Virus Threat - Bugbear There is a REAL virus threat hitting many of you - as evidenced by me receiving the virus 1x/day from a random sampling of my readers. This is not a hoax and can easily bring down your system, erasing all of your data and infecting all your friend's and colleagues's computers. It's called W32.Bugbear It's one of the nastiest, most sophisticated viruses to date. It has been spreading quite rapidly and is infecting machines of everyone I know. If it goes into your computer undetected, it will send itself to everyone in your address book. It will try to disable any anti-virus and firewall software you have. Read the details of the virus here: Click Here If you got the virus, go here, print the pages, download the removal tool and run it: Click Here ************************************************ Fake Virus Threat - A Hoax - Not Real - Nothing to Worry about - Don't forward warnings - jdbmgr.exe - asking to delete this file http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/jdbgmgr.exe.file.hoax.html This is what's know as a hoax. It tell you to delete a valid file, jdbmgr.exe or Java Debugger Manager, because it will cause destruction in 14 days, etc... These hoax alerts look very real and you will be (and are) compelled to send them to everyone you know. I have one request when you get one. Take a deep breath. Then go to www.google.com . Type in the virus name and see what comes up in the search engine. I can guarantee you, 99 times out of 100, what someone sent you is a fake virus alert. This HOAX talks about a teddy bear icon (sometimes confusing it with the above virus). DO NOT DELETE THIS FILE. ************************************************ Please cut this out and paste it somewhere where you'll read it often. It will definitely save your data and major frustration of possibly losing all of your data and having to either buy a new computer or having your computer completely restored Standard policies you should follow, all the time, to keep your data secure, avoid getting viruses and protecting your data should you get a virus: 1. Open attachments/downloads with caution. Attachments are a fact of life and you will need to open them. If you're not expecting an attachment from someone you know, call them or email them before opening one. The rule "I only open attachments from people I know" does not and never did apply. Most like the only people you will get viruses from are people you know. 2. Make sure you always have the latest anti-virus software. Each year, Norton, Mcafee, Panda, Trend and probably a dozen others upgrade their version. Make sure to upgrade weekly (most have automatic updates) and buy a new version every 1-2 year. We provide you "In The Moment" Tech Support Worldwide! We have begun opening up our support services on a world wide basis. We are now supporting clients via phone, remote access and email. Our response time is fantastic and we have knowledgeable folks in all areas of computing, accounting, web design, file management, Internet access, email and lots more. Our remote access allows us to view your computer, real time, from our offices here in California. Call 408.732.8500 or e-mail us http://www.itmcomputing.com/contact_computer.php today to set up an appointment. 3. Have your anti-virus software set to automatically update your software. The best software I've seen for this is Norton made by Symantec.  As I'm on the paranoid side, I still manually update 1-2 times/week. You may want to do the same. Always do a manual update after you hear of a major virus outbreak. 4. If you have AOL, be more then careful, as no anti-virus scanning tool I know of will scan either incoming or outgoing mail with AOL as email provider. 5. Backup, backup, backup. Backup up daily and thoroughly. In case of a virus attack, you'll have a good solid virus-free backup. Use an on-line backup service, an external hard drive, CDs, DVDs or even floppies. Just make sure you get data off the machine on a regular basis. We've set many of you up on backup systems. If you have any questions on using them, don't hesitate to have us out for a refresher training. There are over a dozen backup programs out there - find out which ones really work! 6. Install a firewall on your system. At a minimum, you want Norton Internet Security 2003 or Zone Alarm Pro 3.0. Even better, install a hardware firewall as well. This will block people from trying to get in your computer and blocks evil programs, like the bugbear virus, from sending data out. Windows XP has a built-in firewall which only stops hacks from coming in, but does not prevent your system from sending hacks out and attacking other systems - oftentimes without your knowledge. To read my past newsletters on virus hoaxes,  do a search on: http://www.itmcomputing.com/newsletters.html Where a "best of" ITM Newsletters is stored. ************************ Hope you enjoyed the ride.... Clyde Lerner, In The Moment Computing Phone: 408.732.8500 E-mail comments/feedback to: http://www.itmcomputing.com/contact_computer.php This newsletter is a service of In The Moment Computing and is Copyright 2005 Clyde Lerner. All worldwide rights reserved. If forwarding, please forward all of e-mail, not any portion therein. To see past issues of This and That Computer Tips newsletter, please visit the web at: http://www.itmcomputing.com/newsletter.php and click on "Archives." Please note: Unless requested, questions pertaining to this newsletter will be answered in a 3-4 week time frame. If you need a faster response, there will be a small consultation fee of $15 per e-mail response. You will receive a reply within 48 hours. "Complete Computer Help (Networks, New Computer Installs, Software Training) for Individuals and Small Businesses" "Designing your Perfect Website, at an Affordable Cost, in a Timely Manner" Eliminate and Destroy unwanted email: http://spamarrest.com/affl?1337207 Send a greeting card through the Internet so recipient gets card in their postal mailbox: www.sendoutcards.com/7197 - let me walk you through how to send a card - it's easy. ©2003 In The Moment (ITM) Computing. All rights reserved.