Posted on 29th November 2001
W32/Badtrans-B
Virus
People are are getting (anybody) and sending (Microsoft mail
users) a new
virus W32/Badtrans-B, it is a pretty normal virus with a slight
strain
change. The virus does the usual send email to everyone on address
book"
trick and it can install a password stealing trojan on your
Windows
operating system if you use Windows. Look for this latter file
in your
Windows directory \Windows\System\Kdll.dll and delete it.
As usual Microsoft products are the target Outlook Express 5
in particular
wherein you don't need to open the email, just previewing it
installs the
virus.
The best anti-virus site is Symantec http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/
Here once again are the obligatory practices to avoid viruses,
especially
important if you really insist on using Microsoft products.
1) Use an anti-virus programme, McAfee recommended by PlaNet.
Update the
antivirus capability immediately, and try to continue doing
so every week.
PlaNet can get this update emailed to you if you are known users
of McAfee
and a PlaNet user.
2) If you use Outlook, make sure you go to to Microsofts site
regularly for
security patches. Most viruses target Outlook because its security
is poor
and its maker is rich.
3) Stop using Outlook. If you keep using Outlook, it is not
unlikely that
you will get a virus one day, even if you religiously install
all the
patches, due to inevitable `window of opportunity between discovery
of
virus and patch issue.
4) Use webmail, where the email is not downloaded to your machine.
PlaNet's
webmail is at http://pl.net/email
5) Use email programmes like Eudora (www.eudora.com)
or New Zealand's own
Pegasus (http://www.pmail.com/).
These will not stop you clicking on
attachments which give you a virus, but will stop the poor security
of MS
Outlook which makes virus-spreading an inevitability.
6) In order to prevent emailing everyone in you address book,
create an
invalid email address in it. In Outlook create a new contact
(in Eudora
create a new nickname) - enter an invalid email address which
will cause
the send to everyone to fail (eg $#&%@) as an invalid email
address. It
won't stop the virus from doing anything else, but it will stop
you
becoming part of the problem by emailing it to others, a most
unfriendly
things to do.
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