O/T Virus attacks from Web-based email

[fevrd]

I've been getting weird emails lately from web-based email accounts of people I know on yahoo and hotmail. There is some typical virus-generated title like "Darling" or "Re: Here is that sample" a short message and an attachment which sometimes but not always contains a virus.

Apparently my own account fevrd@playful.com on mail.com has done it too.

One that sent to me seems to have obtained an email address by sending an unsubscribe request to my Yahoo group and then mailing the virus to the owner's address it got from that.

This has started in the last three days and as members of this board are big users of these accounts we need to be careful.

[fevrd]

After some investigation, not quite what it seems. Two worms KLEZ-H (an old one) and SOBIG-A (quite new) are going the rounds and both work similarly in that they can pretend to come from any address.

They are nasty if you have no antivirus.

Info about them including the rules they use to generate subject lines and messages here:

[steve56]

but whos sending all this virus e-mail and why?

[mart]

Good question steve56. In my book that comes a close second to "Why are we here?".

Mart

[Crimpo]

The classic 'worm' e-mails, generated randomly from content of your computer and sent to everyone in the address book. Ah what a jolly jape by the spotty little twat who started it...

Anyone who isn't running an anti-virus system on your computer and doesn't keep it regularly updated - WAKE UP!!!

[buttsie]

Thats why I don't keep any email addresses in my directory

Be buggered if for the sake of 5 seconds of typing I'm going to accidently send a virus on...even with Anti-virus protection who knows....there are always newer viruses than there are updated protections available

cheers
B...OZ

[RJG]

I do'nt have any anti-virus software. I don't need any.

I'm not using any of Microsoft's virus breeding insecureware.

Much safer....
RJG.

[Elmer the Aylmer]

RJG wrote:
>
> I do'nt have any anti-virus software. I don't need any.
>
> I'm not using any of Microsoft's virus breeding insecureware.
>
> Much safer....
> RJG.

It may be akin to walking the high wire without a net, but he
has a point. Simply avoiding Outlook Express, Outlook and Internet Explorer means you avoid about 90% of possible
infection points.

Not accepting HTML-formatted emails (why should any worthwhile
Email need to be in HTML anyway? That's just for spammers in my
experience) cuts the risk of anything clever 'auto-running' too.

That said, AV software can be a useful tool, but don't fall into
the trap of relying upon it to compensate for your own lack of
common sense when dealing with files and email over the net.

[Crimpo]

who said you have to do one OR the other - but its a fair point well made...

[mike johnson]

I agree about the Microsoft stuff (tho I still use IE), but if I cancel HTML, how will I be able to get nudie pix from Yahoo groups?? AFAIK, jpegs don't carry virii.