Wedsday Morning Virus Alert
Paul E. Prusakowski
Description
Collection
Title:
Wedsday Morning Virus Alert
Creator:
Paul E. Prusakowski
Date:
12/1/1999
Text:
News From the Associated Press.... More Virus Activity expected today!
Executive Summary: Don't open attachments called zipped-files.exe .
Better yet, be careful with ALL attachments. Many of these viruses are sent
with very generic text bodies. So, if you receive an email from a colleague
with a very brief text body that doesn't say much other than check out
these files or a variation of that, be cautious. To prevent potential
problems, be sure to identify the contents of attached files when sending
them to colleagues/friends/families, etc. in order to help them identify
potential problem files. Consider implementing corporate e-mail policies
which require written description of attached files to prevent problems.
Verify contents with senders when ever there is doubt. Educate your staff
on the importance of these procedures. Also, back up your data regularly.
-Paul Prusakowski, CPO
Moderator, OANDP-L
Another E-Mail Virus
Derivative Of Last Summer's Worm.Explore.Zip
Experts scrambled to warn thousands of computer users that a familiar and
damaging virus has struck scores of companies and could be slumbering in
their e-mail inboxes Wednesday.
The Mini-Zip virus tore through computers on Tuesday, devouring files and
crippling e-mail systems, anti-virus analysts said. It was expected to renew
its assault Wednesday as unsuspecting users logged on.
Dan Schrader, vice president of new technology at Trend Micro in Cupertino,
Calif., said he fielded complaints of significant problems from four Fortune
500 companies and scores of smaller companies.
Sal Viveros, a marketing manager for Santa Clara-based Network Associates,
which makes anti-virus software, said 20 large corporations had been
affected by Tuesday evening.
The experts refused to release the names of affected companies.
Mini-Zip's parent bug, Worm.Explore.Zip, struck last summer. It was
considered the most destructive virus since the Melissa outbreak in the
spring.
The last time this virus came along it affected tens of thousands - maybe
hundreds of thousands of computers - and caused millions of dollars in
damage, Schrader said. It's malicious and fast-spreading. We consider this
to be high-risk.
It wasn't clear whether the problem had been reported to the
government-chartered CERT Coordination Center - formerly the Computer
Emergency Response Team - at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. There
were no warnings on its Web site early Wednesday.
Anti-virus experts said the bug gets loose from an infected system as a
seemingly friendly reply to a clean e-mail sent via the Microsoft Outlook,
Outlook Express or Exchange browsers.
The virus intercepts the original message and automatically sends itself as
a response - even changing the subject line from, for example, Work
Meeting to Re: Work Meeting.
The body of the message reads: Hi (recipient's name)! I received your
e-mail and I shall send you an e-mail ASAP. Till then, take a look at the
attached zipped docs. bye.
The e-mail contains an attachment called zipped-files.exe. If a user
double-clicks on the attachment, the virus is set loose in the new victim's
system.
It then destroys a series of files in a computer's hard drive by replacing
them with empty files.
Anti-virus experts cautioned users against opening e-mails if they do not
know the sender or why they were sent. They said the virus could be fought
with updated anti-virus software.
SOURCES: By Molly Wood
©1999 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Executive Summary: Don't open attachments called zipped-files.exe .
Better yet, be careful with ALL attachments. Many of these viruses are sent
with very generic text bodies. So, if you receive an email from a colleague
with a very brief text body that doesn't say much other than check out
these files or a variation of that, be cautious. To prevent potential
problems, be sure to identify the contents of attached files when sending
them to colleagues/friends/families, etc. in order to help them identify
potential problem files. Consider implementing corporate e-mail policies
which require written description of attached files to prevent problems.
Verify contents with senders when ever there is doubt. Educate your staff
on the importance of these procedures. Also, back up your data regularly.
-Paul Prusakowski, CPO
Moderator, OANDP-L
Another E-Mail Virus
Derivative Of Last Summer's Worm.Explore.Zip
Experts scrambled to warn thousands of computer users that a familiar and
damaging virus has struck scores of companies and could be slumbering in
their e-mail inboxes Wednesday.
The Mini-Zip virus tore through computers on Tuesday, devouring files and
crippling e-mail systems, anti-virus analysts said. It was expected to renew
its assault Wednesday as unsuspecting users logged on.
Dan Schrader, vice president of new technology at Trend Micro in Cupertino,
Calif., said he fielded complaints of significant problems from four Fortune
500 companies and scores of smaller companies.
Sal Viveros, a marketing manager for Santa Clara-based Network Associates,
which makes anti-virus software, said 20 large corporations had been
affected by Tuesday evening.
The experts refused to release the names of affected companies.
Mini-Zip's parent bug, Worm.Explore.Zip, struck last summer. It was
considered the most destructive virus since the Melissa outbreak in the
spring.
The last time this virus came along it affected tens of thousands - maybe
hundreds of thousands of computers - and caused millions of dollars in
damage, Schrader said. It's malicious and fast-spreading. We consider this
to be high-risk.
It wasn't clear whether the problem had been reported to the
government-chartered CERT Coordination Center - formerly the Computer
Emergency Response Team - at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. There
were no warnings on its Web site early Wednesday.
Anti-virus experts said the bug gets loose from an infected system as a
seemingly friendly reply to a clean e-mail sent via the Microsoft Outlook,
Outlook Express or Exchange browsers.
The virus intercepts the original message and automatically sends itself as
a response - even changing the subject line from, for example, Work
Meeting to Re: Work Meeting.
The body of the message reads: Hi (recipient's name)! I received your
e-mail and I shall send you an e-mail ASAP. Till then, take a look at the
attached zipped docs. bye.
The e-mail contains an attachment called zipped-files.exe. If a user
double-clicks on the attachment, the virus is set loose in the new victim's
system.
It then destroys a series of files in a computer's hard drive by replacing
them with empty files.
Anti-virus experts cautioned users against opening e-mails if they do not
know the sender or why they were sent. They said the virus could be fought
with updated anti-virus software.
SOURCES: By Molly Wood
©1999 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Citation
Paul E. Prusakowski, “Wedsday Morning Virus Alert,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 1, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/213354.
