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Get Some Protection
Charles Winkler (KC4GMY)
on
September 13, 2003
View comments about this article!
I am amazed at the hams who easily have over $10,000 in computer and radio equipment, yet are too cheap to buy anti-virus software…
Lately, the amateur radio community has been inundated with e-mail containing viruses. -- Many of these viruses are propagated unknowingly, by uneducated hams. For most hams, computers have now become a part of the station. Unfortunately, many hams know a great deal about radio and very little about computers. Perhaps in the future amateur radio examinations will have questions about basic networked computer protection procedures. In any event, right now we need to take seriously the importance of protecting our stations against potential harm from malicious files. It is time to get some protection!
Have you heard that curiosity killed the cat? Try to use common sense when connected to the Internet. Don't be naïve - be very suspicious of any unsolicited e-mails. Don't open any file from an unknown address unless it is first scanned with updated (the latest definitions) anti-virus software. Learn which file extensions are potentially unsafe - you can learn more about file extensions by visiting here: http://filext.com/ But don't stop there! Get some protection!
I am amazed at the hams that easily have over $10,000 in computer and radio equipment, yet are too cheap to buy and maintain anti-virus or firewall software. To me, it is like running a station without proper grounding. Or it's like owning a house with no locks on the doors or windows. Get some protection!
Viruses and hacking together drain billions every year out of the world economy. The fewer computers out there propagating viruses, the better financially it is for everyone. Do you want to help your country out of the current financial crisis? Get some protection!
Lastly, if you cannot afford to buy protection, use one of the free e-mail services such as MSN Hotmail or Yahoo! Mail. They offer free scanning of e-mail and their anti-virus software always has the latest definitions. Don't download files from unknown sites or persons. Above all, get some protection!
This article has expired. No more comments may be added.
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Get Some Protection
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by K0BG on September 13, 2003
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I whole-heartedly agree!
It's been several years since a viable virus popped up in the Mac world, but in the PC world it seems a new one comes along every day or two. Although a Mac can open most PC files, the .exec stuff doesn't run. However, you can still propagate the virus by forwarding the file to another user.
Alan, KØBG
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Get Some Protection
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by KE4ZHN on September 13, 2003
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If you need a good antivirus program and cant afford to spend the money on one, just get this one http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php This is a free program and works quite well! Its not as fancy as Norton or McAfee but it will protect you from malicious files and nasty little worms and whatever happens to find its way to your computer. And you cant beat the price!
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Get Some Protection
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by CASPER669 on September 13, 2003
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Very good topic... I would also add that even if you receive an e-mail from someone you know, be weary! Most viruses these days can 'spoof' the e-mail address of someone you know! Not only is this dangerous to the recipient, but it also makes tracking who sent it next to impossible. If you receive an e-mail with an attachment from someone you know, DON'T OPEN IT! Especially if it's something you weren't expecting from that person. If you don't have anti-virus software (bad idea not to), then call the sender and verify that it came from them and that they did intend to send you that attachment. Better to spend .50 cents on a phone call than 1 full day rebuilding your PC.
If you're using a DSL or Cable Internet service, Please be sure to shut down the connection when you're done. Leaving the connection on when not in use allows plenty of time for someone to control your machine and possibly do some serious damage.
If you have a DSL/CABLE router (Linksys, NetGear, etc.) that can NAT IP addresses, you won't have to worry so much about malicious connections. But you'll still need to keep the firmware upgraded regularly, as well as your virus definitions/signatures.
If all else fails, follow this one golden rule... Never open any attachment with the following extensions; .SCR, .PIF, .EXE, .COM, .BAT. Also, don't open attachments with more than one extension - i.e. Tombstone.exe.doc, HappyDays.doc.pif, etc. That is a sure sign that the attachment is actually a virus.
Common sense goes a long way... If you weren't expecting it, chances are you don't need it.
I'm sure there will be plenty more posted by others, most of which will be based on personal experience. Please review them. Most will have a similar pattern of attack.
God bless and 73!
Chris KC2KFW
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RE: Get Some Protection
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by WR8D on September 13, 2003
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All you need is AVG...it has a free version and you get free updates monthly. Simple as that. It catches every bug they have put out and i've used it for several years. Now you probably might think that you have better virus protection because you pay for it. Well i have used several of the major brands and always got a bug from time to time. After i installed AVG several years ago that was no longer a problem. I had norton on my machine when i installed AVG and had 2 bugs on my machine during the install. AVG paused during the install to inform my of the 2 viruses killed them both then finished its install. The site is www.grisoft.com just about every ham i know is using it. After you get on their site the free version is down in the left had corner of the homepage. Check it out...like i said its free. You get monthly updates which are "free" and its worked for me and my ham buddies for many years.
73
John WR8D
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by KG4YJR on September 13, 2003
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Come on you guys, In over ten years I've never gotten a virus. Tell me, which one of you opens an email that says: "Hi n0X9Uo", "Here's my picture", "Wanna meet?".
Seriously, who would be silly enough to open one like that? I don't open Fw: or Re: emails either.
73
Dave
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Get Some Protection
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by FJGH on September 13, 2003
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I wholeheartly disagree... As long as law enforcement treats smartass kids who make viruses as little pranksters that don't really cause $Billions in damage, the rest of us have to collectively spend billions to get rid of viruses. Kids caught sending homemade viruses should be jailed as if they committed a bank robbery. AND I AM NOT KIDDING. Those kids need the shit beat out of them.
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RE: Get Some Protection
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by LNXAUTHOR on September 13, 2003
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- your best protection is to stop using Microsoft products (just my opinion)...
- i do understand however, that there are many good ham radio clients available for Windows... unfortunately, Windows is a proprietary, binary-only, and expensive computer operating system riddled with security flaws...
- the problem stems from its internal architecture, which includes a lack of proper ownership and permission mechanisms, and extremely bad implementations of proprietary protocols... many of the protocols offer easy ingress into the internals of the OS by external software, and scripts, executables or other methods of intrusion can easily bypass any patched safeguards...
- it's a shame that anyone who wants an Intel-based PC or laptop has to pay a "Microsoft tax" when buying a computer - but there are free alternatives which offer a much safer way to connect to the Internet and host a productive platform - including use of ham radio-related software packages...
- i'd recommend Linux, but you can also use NetBSD, FreeBSD, or OpenBSD... one of the great things about these operating systems is that you can run the latest and greatest software on older, 'legacy' computers... this means your initial investment in hardware will be usable for a long time...
- one place to start looking at the ham software for Linux is the Hamsoft site at:
http://radio.linux.org.au/
- all software is free and comes with source code... this means, for example, that if you don't like the way your logging program works, you can change it!
- i'm really surprised that Microsoft hasn't been taken to task for its flawed software - think about the cost in man-hours just over the last month or so in dealing with the various worms and virus attacks... but then again, if you carefully read the software's EULA (end-user license agreement), you'll find that:
1. even though you paid for the software, you don't own it
2. you are paying for the privilege of using the software
3. you are giving up rights when you use the software, meaning your use is an automatic acceptance of the license terms - such as your agreement to allow a software audit by any third-party appointed by Microsoft to come into your place of business to ensure every platform running any Microsoft product has a paid-for license... (Virginia Beach, VA found this out when it forked over nearly $300,000 of taxpayer monies to the monopoly instead of contesting a threatened software audit)...
4. you also agree not to hold Microsoft liable for any expenses or problems arising from use of the software...
in contrast to these onerous terms, take a look at the various open source software licenses, such as the GNU General Public License (GPL)... you own the software, you can change it, you can create new versions, you can improve it, you can share the software with friends, make as many copies as you want, and heck - you can even sell it! ... but if you do, you must provide the source code...
but hey, the choice is yours... i stepped off the commercial software treadmill more than 10 years ago, and have saved thousands of dollars...
and i've never lost a file or suffered any problems with a virus on my systems...
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Get Some Protection
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by KG6AMW on September 13, 2003
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Every time I installed virus protection (several occasions) I ended up with problems. The computer runs slow, the hard drive crashes, along with a whole bunch of little issues. I took off the virus protection 2 years ago and the problems stopped. Just be careful what you download and what emails you open.
KG6AMW
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Amen
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by K7LA on September 13, 2003
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I was fortunate to have had up-to-date anti virus software installed during the last onslaught of well-publicized viruses. The shields held and I had no problems.
Unfortunately, the viruses were sent to me by other hams on various mailing lists that never bothered to protect their systems. Come on people, get the software AND USE IT.
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Get Some Protection
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by VE7SQL on September 13, 2003
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An Anti-Virus would not have helped with blaster; having a different OS would of.
Microsoft OS's are to blame for most Virus' and Worms, if it wasn't then why doesn't Linux, FreeBSD, MAC, Solaris, and so on not being bothered by such things?
The problem is people wasting their hard earned money on such a lower class of OS, and then spending the rest of time fighting with virus' and worm's.
But if one is to work with Windows, then one should always have things backed up (a good back up program like ghost) and never leave the preview pain on in outlook or outlook express email readers. By the way, unhide file extensions also, virus’ love to use that flaw in windows (myphoto.jpg.vbs and all you see is myphoto.jpg)
Good thing for Microsoft and the people who buy from them, that it is just software and not cars or planes that they sell and make.
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Get A Better Platform
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by N1OFZ on September 13, 2003
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The biggest problem is that Microsoft OS's are poor. They have a million holes and exploits. In addition Microsoft is horrible at fixing these holes. The latest virus exploits a hole in DCOM. The Microsoft patch they released didn't even close the hole! Hmm, good QA there! How many service packs have been released for Win2K? Absolutely insane.
If you just have to run a MS OS (though I don't know why) then at least put a firewall in front of the machine (or network). And make it a *nix box. You know that 486 collecting dust in the basement? Add one or two ethernet cards (depending on configuration) and install Linux (free just about everywhere). Total cost, about $5-10.
The other solution is reformat the drive and install Linux. RedHat and SuSE (to name a few) have made it as easy or even easier than installing Windows. Or get a Mac with OSX. You can get a nice iMac for under $1000. I've seen decent used ones for well under $500. Of course you know that OSX is built on BSD Unix right? Other than the GUI it is Unix underneath.
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RE: Get Some Protection
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by RFSOAKED on September 13, 2003
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While thats true that a AV wouldnt stop the blaster worm, a full package deal that includes a firewall will and has saved thousands of windows xp machines. I always recommend and use Norton Internet Security, or at least Norton Antivirus on each system i build or service.
I agree with the comparison of buying $10,000 worth of gear and not spending $39.95 for good AV protection. You can get Norton from the symantec website cheaper than in the store, just back up the download to CD when you purchase it. You also then qualify for rebates towards other Symantec products online.
The Symantec liveupdate feature on NAV is totally free if you know what your doing when you install the software. Don't register it on install, just skip it, than when the year subscription is up just reinstall the Symantec product before it expires and get another free year. I have yet to pay for a update subscription for NAV, and i have been using Symantec products since the first version of their software.
AVG while free is hardly free when you consider the problems a virus can cause and what it will cost to repair. That is of course unless you are experienced enough to make the repairs yourself. I have seen AVG skip over infected files firsthand, so dont try to tell me that its the best out there, and McAfee is a joke.
I did a side by side comparison of the three on a infected computer recently, after scanning with AVG and McAfee and being told that the system was clean, i installed and scanned with Norton Antivirus, it found the virus within the first 30 seconds of scanning the system.
Oh well, thats my 2 cents worth. Computers are my business, have been for many many many years.
73
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RE: Get Some Protection
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by KC8JZO on September 13, 2003
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http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
It's a good free online virus checker. I use it from time to time to check my computer at home. If you like their product, then you can buy their antivirus software to install on your computer.
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Get Some Protection
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by K7VO on September 13, 2003
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I run Linux, not Windows. I am immune to 99.99% of all virii and worms as a result. I have a good firewall in place and I keep my OS patched to close all known vulnerabilities. I also shut off or uninstall any unnecessary services. All of that protects me from crackers and the remaining .01%.
To the person who runs Windows without an anti-virus: you are a menace to everyone on the net. You can get a worm or virus without opening an e-mail attachment. Your computer can be used as a launching ground for attacks on others. Just because you see no problems does NOT mean the problems aren't there.
Finally, if ANYONE is running Windows older than Windows 2000 or ME you are running a product Microsoft no longer supports or issues patches for. You need to either upgrade or, if your hardware cannot support a newer version of Windows you need to consider another OS. Otherwise, again, you can be used by the unscrupulous out there.
Vector Linux (http://www.vectorlinux.com) is specifically designed to be fast on older, slower hardware. (No, I don't mean a 386 with 4MB of RAM. I mean something reasonable.) It isn't the most user friendly thing in the world, so if you have no Linux/UNIX experience get a friend who does to help you set it up. It's a much better idea than Windows '95 or '98.
FWIW, any of the BSDs or MacOS are relatively virus-immune as well.
73,
Caity
K7VO
P.S.: Flames will be cheerfully ignored.
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RE: Get Some Protection
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by DROLLTROLL on September 13, 2003
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I believe if those hackers found the joy of CW then they wouldn't have the time or inclination to write those virus programs. I say we beat the morse into 'em. That'll force them to love ham radio and forget computers!
Sorry, just had to find a way to sneak code/no code into this thread.
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RE: Get Some Protection
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by KC5NYJ on September 13, 2003
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I predict we will see the day when business and even individual users who have been damaged by viruses will successfully sue ISPs and possibly individuals found responsible for transmitting the virus. With that in mind, should ISPs require customers to sign liability agreements?
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RE: Get Some Protection
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by KR4XH on September 13, 2003
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If you have to run Windows, get the Norton Internet Security and VirusScan... I run them both and have never had any problems.
Of course it helps not to open e-mails with a subject line like "I Love You", or double-clicking on files with multiple or a *.vbs file extension...
Course this goes along with the "knowledge" concept.
Oops, wrong thread!
73
don KR4XH
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Get Some Protection
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by KD6NXI on September 13, 2003
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No you don't need virus software all you need to do is follow the following simple rule,, don't open attachments which have the following extensions:
.vsc
.scr
.exe
.bat
.com
.pif
.vbs
.js
The biggies are the first six and biggest are .pif and .scr because they figure most people are smart enough that they won't open a .exe or .com anyway. Viruses ending in .pif (program information files) are the single most widley propagated file format next to .scr which are screen saver files. Any of these extensions tells windows the file is executable and will happily do so when you open it.
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RE: Get Some Protection
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by NA4IT on September 13, 2003
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I agree with the idea of protection. For the average computer user, AntiVirus Software is a must. But here is something else you should absolutley insist on...that your internet service provider (ISP) have virus protection software on their server. The one I use does, and I might see 1 virus laden e-mail come across my machine a month. Remember all the trouble with Blaster and SoBig? How many ISP's went down for the count? Mine never even burped!
Something to think about!
(I won't advertize for my ISP here, but if you want to know who it is, e-mail me.)
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RE: Get Some Protection
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by AA4PB on September 13, 2003
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Absolutely, we the users should insist that the ISPs run AV software at the server. Mine does and even though I run my own AV software as well I haven't received a virus in probably two years now. I've gotten plenty of e-mails with a note indicating that a virus has been removed by the server. If all ISPs did this it would stop this e-mail virus thing in its tracks. If you think about it, all e-mail goes through an ISP server at both ends of the link so where better to stop it?
Yes, Macs have less problems with virus attesting to the fact that even the virus authors resist writing software for a Mac :-)
I'm still running W98SE on a P200 for the internet in the shack. I have Norton AV installed and have no problems with it slowing down the computer or causing crashes.
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RE: Get Some Protection
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by N2MG on September 13, 2003
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I really wish the eHam community would install and use (and keep up-to-date) decent anti-virus software. The amount of infected emails I get from the webmaster address is unbelieveable.
73 Mike N2MG
webmaster
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Get Some Protection
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by KC8VWM on September 14, 2003
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This is not a "computer" forum. Therefore I fail to understand how such a topic can migrate into an Amateur Radio discussion group.
This is eham.. not compuhelp....
KC8VWM
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Get Some Protection
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by KB9YUR on September 14, 2003
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Some of the problems are self-inflicting. For example, since the early days of Win95,
(and all Windows OS's after that) it's been known that BEFORE you install or uninstall ANY
new software, you need to turn off ALL programs running in the system tray.
Then, after the install or uninstall, reboot the computer before running any software again.
If you don't do this, the Windows registry (System.dat & User.dat) tends to get
corrupted over time and thus cause system wide problems. Windows 98 has it's own
registry fix program which can be run from true DOS by typing in SCANREG /OPT
to condense/fix the registry or SCANREG /FIX to rebuild the registry.
Another point to keep in mind that many of todays virus's, spyware/adware and other
nasties are written for the latest and greatest Windows OS, XP (Xtra Problems?).
If you're not having problems with Windows 98, 2000 Professional, etc, why upgrade
to Windows XP ?!?
George ...
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RE: Get Some Protection
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by RFSOAKED on September 14, 2003
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To: KC8VWM
This is exactly the place that this needs to be discussed. Computers are becoming ever more important in the modern ham shack. Digital communications, satellite tracking, controlling rotors and doppler shift on the radio, contest logging, and day to day logging software, etc etc etc...
Email and web browsing is but a small percentage of use for many shack computers, but it is still extremely important for hams to understand the responsibility of having an internet connected computer. This is the perfect time to be discussing this subject with the recent rash of email worms and other security problems. And if your using Windows 98 or 98SE and no firewall be careful, Microsoft isnt concerned with security holes found in that OS anymore, they have moved on. It sounds as if by the end of the year any official support for 98 will no longer exist.
I stated that it is a responsibility to have a computer that is internet enabled, the reason for that is simple, DOS (denial of service) attacks and virii spread due to compromised systems. Almost 50% of the systems that i work on each week are zombies ready to attack on command, sub-seven and other trojans enable hackers to have a private army of computers ready to obey every command. All the while the computer may seem fairly normal to the owner, and without any protection they wouldnt ever know.
73
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SOLUTION!!!
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by K4III on September 14, 2003
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HERE's 1 SOLUTION!
Don't place important information or data on your computer!
What burgular would steal from a bum or pauper?
FOR EMAIL SITUATIONS:
Stop signing up and giving email addresses to everyone you meet, and don't foward fowarded emails in your main email account. Every address it is sent from is on them and it only takes 1 stupid person who receives the email to send all those addresses at the top of the email to a telemarketing firm to plead for a few pennies.
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Get Some Protection
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by N4ZOU on September 15, 2003
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I do not open ANY file attachments at all. I also use hotmail and yahoo so I can view the message subject and if it has an attachment. If there is an attached file I kill the message before it even gets to my computer. The only time I would accept an attachment is if I know it's comeing and has a special subject much like a password something like My256pRoGRam. I have never got a virus or worm doing this and yes I also run AVG. But there is one flaw with any virus program, you must tell it about new worms or virus. So even with protection your still wide open to the next new worm or virus if your one of the first few infected with the new worm or virus.
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Get Some Protection
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by DOODAH on September 15, 2003
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To prevent virus infection, you may think it's enough to simply not click on any email attachments. Not so,
as I found recently - the blaster worm recently attacked my Windows 2000 machine without any action on my part. Just being connected to the internet was enough - other machines exploited a bug in the operating system to install something on my PC without my knowledge. I strongly advise a FIREWALL to prevent this happening. Sygate has a personal firewall program that is FREE, so there's no excuse. Also, use the Windows Update feature on MS's website, which will scan your machine for items that need updating and makes the update a breeze (even if some downloads may take hours on a modem). I used to think I was safe, now I'm glad I've taken trouble to learn a bit, lock things down as best I can, and all thanks to a worm that was easy to remove and that did no real damage thankfully.
If you don't take time out to ensure your PC is as safe as possible, don't expect any sympathy if you lose data. Use the latest patches and service packs, get a firewall (even a free one), anti-virus software, and beware that even some rogue websites can attack you via html 'features'. Be aware, watch your backs... make sure your vital files are backed up!
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RE: Get Some Protection
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by KD7VZM on September 15, 2003
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I'd have to agree with LNXAUTHOR that Microsoft security issues represent the biggest piece of the problem regarding vulnerability to viruses and worms. I have been running various Mac OSes for the past six years, and have never encountered a virus.
Currently I am running OSX 10.2.6, which is unix based, and am running a good bit of unix/linux software on XWindows through the Fink.org project. If anyone reads this who has experience compiling ham related unix/linux software on OSX, I would love to hear about his experiences, and learn from any advice he would care to give a big dumb guy like me <g>.
73,
Jim
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Get Some Protection
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by W3JJH on September 15, 2003
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As was pointed out above, the best defense against worms and viruses is to avoid Microsoft operating systems. If you can't, at least avoid connecting them to the internet.
I run the following OSs on machines in my home and business:
Linux
Windows 98SE
Windows 2000
Mac OS 9.2.2
Mac OS 10.2.6
All of the hardware is Apple Macintoshes. The Linux is SuSe's PPC distribution, and the Windows are running under Virtual PC. This is the most stable, ah, make that least unstable, way I've found to run Windows. Only Macs running OS 10 are connected to the internet; all files are downloaded and scanned through them before being transferred to a Linux or Windows system. The scanning is done with Norton Anti-Virus, and no contaminated files have ever gotten through. I've found that Symantec is very good on keeping their virus definition files up to date.
BTW, there are only about 40 Mac-specific viruses in the wild, and none of them are OS 10-specific.
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RE: Get Some Protection
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by KD5ING on September 15, 2003
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Computer based viruses are only part of the problem. No on has mentioned spyware/malware.
What is spyware? Little programs installed on your computer usually without your knowledge but with your permission that allows others to monitor your activities on the internet. Most of the programs cause all sorts of stability problems as well. For additional information see - http://www.spywareguide.com/index.php
So,
1. Install antivirus software on your computer and update it on a regular basis - weekly if possible. Dozens of new viruses are written every month.
2. Install spyware removal software. The programs are free and work well. You can download them from the site listed above.
3. If you are on a broadband connection, install a firewall such as Zone Alarm or the firewall software taht comes with the McAfee, Norton or Trend Micro AV programs.
In my experience, if you do not have antivirus and antispyware software installed on your computer - you have both and just don't know it.
If anyone has questions about this you can post it here or email me at mycall @arrl.net
Take care,
Tim
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RE: Get Some Protection
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by KD5ING on September 15, 2003
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Computer based viruses are only part of the problem. No on has mentioned spyware/malware.
What is spyware? Little programs installed on your computer usually without your knowledge but with your permission that allows others to monitor your activities on the internet. Most of the programs cause all sorts of stability problems as well. For additional information see - http://www.spywareguide.com/index.php
So,
1. Install antivirus software on your computer and update it on a regular basis - weekly if possible. Dozens of new viruses are written every month.
2. Install spyware removal software. The programs are free and work well. You can download them from the site listed above.
3. If you are on a broadband connection, install a firewall such as Zone Alarm or the firewall software taht comes with the McAfee, Norton or Trend Micro AV programs.
In my experience, if you do not have antivirus and antispyware software installed on your computer - you have both and just don't know it.
If anyone has questions about this you can post it here or email me at mycall @arrl.net
Take care,
Tim
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Get Some Protection
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by KB2SMS on September 15, 2003
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I Switched to Linux in June of 2002 and never looked back. I haven't even thought about viruses,worms or trojans ever since I switched. For some reason those that continue to use Windows for the most part just refuse to even TRY to protect themselves. Think about the past few weeks with the Blaster and Sobig problems, Window users have been pulling their hairs out as have IT people at local colleges. Every time you turn around there's a new Windows worry(tm).
Not for me. No more. Enough of that nonsense is enough.
Tom
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RE: Get Some Protection
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by 2INTEREST on September 16, 2003
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KC8VWM and RFSOAKED
This is not a computer forum, but computers have invaded everywhere!
One solution is to have separate machines. My preference is to have an older computer connected to the web and have a newer machine as the primary workhorse that is only connected to the web when updates are needed.
After all, we can afford anything, can't we??? ;-)
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Get Some Protection
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by ON4MGY on September 16, 2003
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I think a good way of having a computer in the shack is having two computers. Use a newer one for your logbook, trx-control, sat-tracking and all other amateur related stuff. Use a second (older) one just for your internet connection.
I you are carefull with your e-mails you can keep out a lot of viruses, but not all.
I think using a firewall is at least even important than running a virus-scanner. Install a firewall and within a few day's you'll see why.
Best 73 de ON4MGY Nic
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RE: Get Some Protection
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by W8JI on September 17, 2003
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I have an IMAP server now, I ran McAfee in my system, never open attachments, kept everything updated, try to never open attachments, and still found three virus' when I installed Norton AV!!!!!!
McAfee AV sucks big time. It won't let some of my programs run. It screws the clock up. It missed virus problems, it stops my printer, and all sorts of other things.
Keep that in mind!
73 Tom
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RE: Get Some Protection
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by KR4XH on September 17, 2003
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W8JI,
You're absolutely right... I punted McAfee a couple of years ago and went to Norton. The updates and support are vastly superior, and it doesn't trash every other application that I'm trying to run.
don KR4XH
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RE: Get Some Protection
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by M0YOJ on September 18, 2003
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My home install consists of a broadband connection, an p166 box with Smoothwall set to proxy as well, the output of the AT PSU switches on the broadband ethernet modem, and mini hub, switch on and network up in one go, even the wife can manage it. I run Redhat 9.0 currently, and use Xlog for logging. Wifey is win 98, which is also fairly safe from virii, though it does have AV installed, Sophos as it happens, but no one really uses '98 anymore, so no one writes virii for it.
The place i work at on the other hand was brought to its knees by Nachi for a week, 1000 workstations and associated users, behind a top notch firewall, but hey, someone walked in with it on a laptop...
Its no longer good enough to say "Dont open this mail" etc, the latest vulnerabilties in Micro$ofts OS are based in services that can literally pick virii out of the ether, air borne rather than STD if you like ;-)
I'll leave you with my email sig....
The myth that Bill Gates has appeared like a knight in shining armor to lead all customers out of a mire of technological chaos neatly ignores the fact that it was he who, by peddling second-rate technology, led them into it in the first place, and continues to do so today.
~Douglas Adams~
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Get Some Protection
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by AF4OB on September 19, 2003
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avg is ok as antivirus program,the dat file updates are slow.
two better free programs are freeav.com avast.com
both offer dat file updates1-2 times a week,
i dont care for norton,it caused my machine to crash every day and i just fixed a coworker machine who got a virus running norton,the folks at norton wanted him to call teck support and pay for them to talk him thru the fix.which in my opion is junk(he paid for the program) and to top it all off they told him by email that he should not have the virus because there program would stop that virus a year ago.well it didnt
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RE: Get Some Protection
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by KD5ING on September 19, 2003
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Your best bet will be a commercial package that updates daily. Updating every couple of weeks or more will leave you open to attacks.
Understand that the newer viruses are written to spread much more rapidly than the viruses of the past.
SoBig, Welchia and Blaster spread over most of the internet in a matter of an hour or two.
The larger AV companies had updates for their products just a handful of hours after that.
Also, if you are running a Microsoft OS, be sure to install the critical updates. When Microsoft releases a critical or security update it is to correct a found hole in the OS. Virus writers create new viruses to exploit that new hole because they know so many users will not be aware of the critical update or will know about the update but not install it.
Be careful!
Tim, KD5ING
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RE: SOLUTION!!!
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by KC8VWM on September 20, 2003
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RFSOAKED Said:
This is exactly the place that this needs to be discussed. Computers are becoming ever more important in the modern ham shack. Digital communications, satellite tracking, controlling rotors and doppler shift on the radio, contest logging, and day to day logging software, etc etc etc...
Email and web browsing is but a small percentage of use for many shack computers, but it is still extremely important for hams to understand the responsibility of having an internet connected computer. This is the perfect time to be discussing this subject with the recent rash of email worms and other security problems. And if your using Windows 98 or 98SE and no firewall be careful, Microsoft isnt concerned with security holes found in that OS anymore, they have moved on. It sounds as if by the end of the year any official support for 98 will no longer exist.
I stated that it is a responsibility to have a computer that is internet enabled, the reason for that is simple, DOS (denial of service) attacks and virii spread due to compromised systems. Almost 50% of the systems that i work on each week are zombies ready to attack on command, sub-seven and other trojans enable hackers to have a private army of computers ready to obey every command. All the while the computer may seem fairly normal to the owner, and without any protection they wouldnt ever know.
73
Reply,
That is a most intelligent response. Excellent article, I stand corrected.
73
KC8VWM
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Get Some Protection
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by WD5L on September 21, 2003
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If you think that by using Web mail and deleting all E-Mail containing attachments and not downloading attachments you can avoid getting viruses on your PC then you are just kidding yourself.
I am a UNIX Systems specialist with over 9 years experience in these systems. In this time I have watched Microsoft Windows mature to the point where I actually appreciate Windows 2000 enough due to the fact that I have almost never had a lockup on this operating system. I have only one computer and my son's tutorial software is designed for Windows so it is Windows we use by default. This is not to say I would prefer to run FreeBSD instead but I digress.
I too use webmail exclusively and I instinctively erase all E-mail without reading if the title is bizarre (ie: Getting a bigger tool, Make Her Beg for more, New Business opportunity, etc, etc) My E-Mail filters handle about 90 percent of this. The rest I erase. Attachments are dealt with likewize. I only use dialup connection over a standard analog telephone line so my PC is off the internet much more than it is on. Because I have only one phone line and I took all these precaustions I smuggly thought that I could never get a virus on my PC.
Nonetheless while I was researching the SoBig virus on my customer's Windows 95 machine I discovered quite by accident that my PC was infected with the Blaster virus while going through the task manager.
Blaster doesn't require that you download anything. Blaster can infect your PC by exploiting the MS03-026 vulnerability. The virus attempts to spread itself to as many systems as possible through unplugged holes in Windows. The virus is able to execute without any action on the part of the user. The virus creates a remote access point, allowing the attacker to run commands at their choosing.
When run it scans a random IP range to look for vulnerable systems on TCP port 135. The worm attempts to exploit RPC vulnerability on the found systems to create a remote shell on TCP port 444. It then instructs the system to copy the worm to the Winntsystem32 subdirectory and execute it. The targeted system is issued a TFTP command to download from the infected system. [TFTP UDP port 69].
TFTP is an automated process and this activity can occur without your knowledge and less you are a control freak and like to watch the task manager %100 percent of the time you will never catch it unless you have updated versions of virus checking software with all the current signature updates.
But Blaster only effects Windows 2000 and XP machines you say and I run Windows 95/98/ME and I use webmail so I safe, right? Well think again. The sobig virus can E-mail itself to countless other PCs and it searches for vulnerable systems on which it can replicate. It creates it's own SMTP engine so it can literally mail itself where ever it wants. When it does it installs itself in the Windows subdirectory as Winppr.exe and a non-malicious text file called Winst32.dat. Upon executing it runs it's own SMTP engine and replicates itself on other vulnerable systems. To isure it runds on every boot up it places itself in your registry in
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun
TrayX = "%Windows%winppr32.exe /sinc"
HKEY_Local_MachineSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun
TrayX = "Windows%winppr32.exe /sinc"
They program then proceeds to search your hard drive for valid E-Mail addresses, and it uses it's internal SMTP engine to email itself to those addresses.
The worm attempts to contact a list of 20 predefined IP addresses on port 8998/UDP on Fridays and Saturdays between 1900 and 2200 UTC starting at 1900 UTC on August 22, 2003. If you thing changing your date time clock will prevent this event you'd be wrong again because it uses the Network Time Protocol or NTP servers to determine the current time.
Now I apologize for the length of this post but I just wanted to demonstrate the sophictication of these viruses and to recommend that if wish to switch to Linux or FreeBSD great! If you have to stick with Windows that please do yourself a big favor and get good virus protection software.
73's,
Rick WD5L
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