VIRUS ALERT!!!! (genuine)

[p_p_man]

I've just received this message from my bank:

"Bugbear Virus

A new internet virus called Bugbear has been widely reported in the media recently.

The virus is transmitted as an attachment to an email which may look like a normal message. If activated it will attempt to terminate any anti-virus or other security programs.

If you suspect that your computer has been infected by this virus, you should:

- contact your system or anti-virus suppliers for guidance and information on how to remove the virus, and protect against re-infection

- change your passwords only AFTER cleaning your machine of all traces of the virus

Many suppliers have a fix for this virus which are widely available to download via the internet. To find a cleaner, we suggest you use a Search Engine and input the search terms 'Bugbear' and 'Cleaner'. Then choose the one provided by your favoured anti-virus supplier.

14/10/2002"

ppman

 

[Bob_Bytchin]

Thanks pp_man.

Wow, that sounded odd.

 

[freakygirl]

Yep

McAfee told me about this a few weeks ago.

 

[cybergirly]

Yup, I work for a major telecommunications company. Got an Email about "bugbear" today. It's not a hoax.

 

[Harbinger]

More info

http://www.f-secure.com/v-descs/tanatos.shtml

 

[QuickDuck]

It exsists *sigh* damn LAN parties

 

[HeavyStick]

Thanks pp_man.

Wow, that sounded odd.

you thanked pp man.... you fucking weakling.

 

[Bob_Bytchin]

you thanked pp man.... you fucking weakling.

Hey, I put a disclaimer.

 

[Ishmael]

I updated my Anti-V ware three days ago and got the bugbear attachment in an e-mail this AM. The scanner got it.

I still have the attachment quarentined. Anyone want it?

Ishmael

 

[Lost Cause]

Yup!

I got this fix in my email today....

 

[HeavyStick]

I updated my Anti-V ware three days ago and got the bugbear attachment in an e-mail this AM. The scanner got it.

I still have the attachment quarentined. Anyone want it?

Ishmael

right here.

hanns_schmidt@literotica.org


pssst...quarantined

 

[TWB]

This thing is a bitch to get rid of.

It really sucks.

Really.

I would like to stick a bugbear up the guy's ass who wrote the friggin thing. I wasted about 6 reams of paper so far. It prints gobbeldy to any networked printer.

 

[Ishmael]

right here.

hanns_schmidt@literotica.org


pssst...quarantined

Nah, never torment the retarded. Bad Kharma.

(I saw that after I clicked. Screw it. )

Ishmael

 

[Shy Tall Guy]

*Yawn*

Old news...

If you are careful in how you setup your email client, you shouldn't have to worry about such crap. I sub to a bunch of motorcycle email lists, and this was one of the viral agents that was makingthe rounds about two weeks ago via the lists. I must have received several different variations of at least 3 different viral agents in about a dozen different emails. None infected me. Know why? Because I don't allow Outlook to open attachments that might be viral agents. It is as simple as that. And Outlook is the email client that most of these viral agents go after because it is so integrated with other apps and the OS, and has a scripting language built in.

It got to the point that the person sending it was even able to turn off the little paper clip icon that told me I had an attachment. Still I wasn't infected - and no I don't use preventative anti-virus software. Just common sense.

 

[littlekateyes]

Thanks

 

[Guest]

 

[Coolville]

I updated my protection software last week.
Bugbear is a nasty fucker.
Usually, you learn quick what the latest virus looks in your inbox and act accordingly. Although Bugbear was downgraded from High Risk to Medium Risk on mcaffee.com, it is still nasty:

This virus can "spoof" the "from" field, by combining random elements to form a fake "from" address.

The message body varies widely. It is likely that the virus takes material from infected systems and places it within the message.
The attachment name also varies. It is common for the attachment name to contain a double-extension (ie. .doc.pif), but this may not display on all systems.

Once the machine is infected, the worm will attempt to disable security software, including many types of anti-virus and firewall protection. It will also try to install a backdoor trojan that can capture what the user types, including sensitive information such as passwords. The trojan will also allow an attacker to upload files from the infected system, download files onto the system, run executable files and stop processes from running.

Possible message subject lines include the following (however, other random subject lines are also possible): (AND I'VE HAD MANY OTHERS THAT AREN'T ON THE LIST)

Found
150 FREE Bonus!
25 merchants and rising
Announcement
bad news
CALL FOR INFORMATION!
click on this!
Correction of errors
Cows
Daily Email Reminder
empty account
fantastic
free shipping!
Get 8 FREE issues - no risk!
Get a FREE gift!
Greets!
Hello!
history screen
hotmail.
I need help about script
Interesting
Introduction
its easy
Just a reminder
Lost
Market Update Report
Membership Confirmation
My eBay ads
New bonus in your cash account
New Contests
new reading
News
Payment notices
Please Help
Report
SCAM alert
Sponsors needed
Stats
Today Only
Tools For Your Online Business
update
various
Warning!
Your Gift
Your News Alert

 

[p_p_man]

I've just updated my Norton...

but Bugbear doesn't appear on the new virus list.

Is Norton failing or has Bugbear got another name?



ppman

 

[brokenbrainwave]

Norton is rather ineffective against bugbear, I had to remove it last week from my system, grrrr.

On a side note, the bugbear is really not that hard to remove.

 

[TWB]

Norton is rather ineffective against bugbear, I had to remove it last week from my system, grrrr.

On a side note, the bugbear is really not that hard to remove.

That has not been my experience. It disabled norton on several computers. It can be nasty. I am glad your experience wasn't.

 

[brokenbrainwave]

it does disable Norton, which can be bad if your not careful.

Symantec.com has a fix for it that is very easy to use though.

 

[TWB]

That (my comment) didn't make much sense. Duh.

 

[brokenbrainwave]

edited cause I thought you were getting snitty, lol.

 

[Sandia]

So the lesson is... never open attachments, right?

 

[Shy Tall Guy]

So the lesson is... never open attachments, right?

The lesson is to not open attachments automatically - especially if you are using Outlook as an email client. There is a setting in Outlook that prevents it from opening any attachment that could be harmful.

Unfortunately this catches a lot of non-harmful attachments (that could be harmful), but I find it better to be safe than sorry. This setting and the general policy of being very careful with attachments has saved me from infection at least once a week. Virus detection programs for the most part must be kept up to date, and they are useful, but just being careful has so far prevented me from ever being infected period - and I receive viral agents all the time.