Just in Time for Winter Storms
It's been a while since this column has warned you about "safe surfing," but perhaps this is a good time to repeat the principles. Why? Yet another new worm has been unleashed. From PC Magazine: "Experts are forecasting an increase in spam as a result of the "Storm" worm that sent out six separate waves containing hundreds of thousands of e-mails during the weekend, and continues to touch down on computers worldwide.
"'The malware is distributed to set up a network of infected zombie computers, which can then be used to launch massive spam campaigns,' said Commtouch Chief Technology Officer Amir Lev, in a statement.
"The Small.Dam worm, dubbed "Storm" because of its reference to a major storm in Europe in its subject line, was first uncovered during the week of Jan. 15."
Infected emails come to your inbox with a variation of this headlines: "230 dead as storm batters Europe;" "U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza...;" and "A killer at 11, he's free at 21 and..." When the email's attachment is opened, your computer becomes part of a botnet, controlled via a backdoor for whatever purposes the worm's creators have in mind.
So let's go over those principles of computer protection once again:
1. Use a firewall (enable XP's firewall, or better yet, get a hardware firewall by installing a router that comes bundled with one)
2. Use up-to-date virus protection
3. Run Spybot, AdAware, or some other malware detection and removal program regularly
4. DO NOT open attachments from anyone, including your BFF, unless you expect said attachment
5. If in doubt about the security of any emails, run a quick Google on the subject line before opening - just in case!
It's been a while since this column has warned you about "safe surfing," but perhaps this is a good time to repeat the principles. Why? Yet another new worm has been unleashed. From PC Magazine: "Experts are forecasting an increase in spam as a result of the "Storm" worm that sent out six separate waves containing hundreds of thousands of e-mails during the weekend, and continues to touch down on computers worldwide.
"'The malware is distributed to set up a network of infected zombie computers, which can then be used to launch massive spam campaigns,' said Commtouch Chief Technology Officer Amir Lev, in a statement.
"The Small.Dam worm, dubbed "Storm" because of its reference to a major storm in Europe in its subject line, was first uncovered during the week of Jan. 15."
Infected emails come to your inbox with a variation of this headlines: "230 dead as storm batters Europe;" "U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza...;" and "A killer at 11, he's free at 21 and..." When the email's attachment is opened, your computer becomes part of a botnet, controlled via a backdoor for whatever purposes the worm's creators have in mind.
So let's go over those principles of computer protection once again:
1. Use a firewall (enable XP's firewall, or better yet, get a hardware firewall by installing a router that comes bundled with one)
2. Use up-to-date virus protection
3. Run Spybot, AdAware, or some other malware detection and removal program regularly
4. DO NOT open attachments from anyone, including your BFF, unless you expect said attachment
5. If in doubt about the security of any emails, run a quick Google on the subject line before opening - just in case!
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