Codezwiz >> Forums >> The Board >> Net virus can strike unseen

Just looking at your e-mail can now deliver you the nastiest of new viruses.

Five new variants of a malicious e-mail virus released overnight Thursday on the Internet break new ground in that recipients are no longer required to open attachments to infect their computers.

The new variants of the Bagle virus -- which was first discovered in January -- exploit known flaws in Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Outlook and Media Player programs to run a small hyper text language message that downloads the virus directly into the target computer.

Although Microsoft issued a patch last October to fix the flaw, it may still not be enough to prevent new variants of the Bagle virus from infecting users' computers, according to a Korean antivirus company.

Eric Kwon, chief executive officer of Global Hauri, which identified three of the variants shortly after they were released, said his staff discovered the virus is still triggered if users try to save the message on computers that have already been patched with the Microsoft fix.

"We found that even a patched computer is still vulnerable if someone tries to save the message," Kwon said.

"This means people are going to have to change the way they send messages to one another."

In the past, viruses could be spread only by users opening e-mail attachments which would then trigger self-propagating "worm" programs embedded in the attachments.

But the new variants carry a web-based URL or hyper text message in the body of the e-mail that triggers the computer to secretly download a copy of the worm from already infected computers.

It also turns off some security and anti-virus programs, and even disables firewalls, according to Chris Belthoff, senior security analyst with Sophos, an antivirus and anti-spam company with offices in Vancouver.

"This is a pretty serious new twist, in that most people have learned not to open e-mails that have attachments they aren't expecting," Belthoff said from Sophos's lab in Boston, Mass.

oh great

If you use Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express to send and receive email, turn off the Preview Pane. Viewing the message in the preview pane is the same as opening it full screen. All images and links are loaded.

There is a little add-on utility for Outlook (not Outlook Express) called Chilton Preview. It replaces the Preview Pane with a pane that shows the contents of messages in plain text/source code fashion. That way, the links and images that potentially contain viruses don't load.

Viewing messages via Chilton Preview may help protect you against the viruses mentioned above, but it can also help cut down on spam. Many times, spammers put codes in their emails that send messages back to them when the images in their spam are loaded. Then they know they've got a live address and they send you even more spam. Not allowing those images to load keeps those tattletale messages from being sent back to the spammer.

For more info on Chilton Preview, visit this [ Register or login to view links on this board.] .

Also, make sure you use an anti-virus program that protects your email as well as the rest of your computer. We've used AVG for years now. It's free and does everything the high priced commercial brands do. You can get it at [ Register or login to view links on this board.] .

Nothing is 100%, especially since the bad guys are always coming up with new ways to attack us; but using the methods above and NEVER EVER EVER open attachments (even if you know the person sending it unless you verify that it is legitimate beforehand), will help to keep you as safe from email viruses as possible.

Kelly

Register

I wanna check out Chilton Preview but the link aint working.

[ Register or login to view links on this board.]

Register

I have no clue why, but my internet explorer freezes when looking at that page. Now Staffie used that site in an iframe it even freezes on this topic. I had to use my opera browser to see what Staffie had posted and post this message.

i'd weird problem with the email outlook express. i got disconnect when i open up the outlook express

does anyone experience with that problem i have?

i need some methods to fix it

Check the mail setup in Outlook Express, theres an option to disconnect after checking mail. That's the only thing that springs to mind.

Both links above for Chilton Preview work.

To turn off the preview pane in Outlook, click on View. Click on Preview Pane and it will turn it off if it is on.

Kelly

thansk Kelly

, problem has fixed