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New Worm Attack
Lovgate.C is on the way.
Read the article and quit using Microsoft mail clients.
Posted by Rand Simberg at February 24, 2003 09:46 AM
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Update your virus files
Excerpt: There's a new (and nasty) worm roaming the internet. (And no, I'm not talking about Monsieur Chiraq.) Thanks to Rand
Weblog: On The Third Hand
Tracked: February 24, 2003 10:04 AM
Comments
Thanks for the heads-up. I just updated my virus files, even though I have never used a Microsoft mail client! I used Eudora for a short while, but my mail's mostly been delivered by a flying horse since about 1993.
Posted by Kathy K at February 24, 2003 10:10 AM
As a rule, whether using a Microsoft client or anything else, it's simply smart as a rule not to open e-mail attachments if they come from someone unknown to you.
Extensions like ".scr" are pretty much a dead giveaway too.
Posted by Kevin McGehee at February 24, 2003 11:21 AM
Yes, but some versions can be configured to open attachments automagically. I think that this used to be the default setting in fact, though one would hope that they've changed that.
Posted by Rand Simberg at February 24, 2003 11:49 AM
OE6 defaults to not allowing you to open "potentially harmful" attachments. It's also got a neat checkbox that disables viewing HTML mail, which kills "infect-in-preview-mode" virii like Klez.
Posted by Rick C at February 24, 2003 10:24 PM
There was never a version of Outlook or Outllok Express that by default opened attachments. THere was a scripting bug a few years ago that could cause some things to happen but that has long since been patched. Eudora was subject to the same bug if HTML viewing was active.
Important note: not using a Microsoft client will not protect you from the recent generations of mail worms. They have their own SMTP engine built-in and can work just fine if opened from any e-mail client.
The only real defense is to never, ever trust an attachment that appears without very specific advance notice. If you are sending a file it is best to give notice in a separate message sent first giving details of what is being sent and why. This makes it much harder for virus writier to package their payload with a generic message.
Posted by Eric Pobirs at February 25, 2003 04:38 AM
> They have their own SMTP engine built-in and can work just fine if opened from any e-mail client.
Really? Including emacs rmail, even on a vt100?
Posted by Andy Freeman at February 25, 2003 08:34 AM
Good point Andy. They don't work too well with Pine on a UNIX-type system either...
Posted by Kathy K at February 25, 2003 10:27 AM
As if more than a tiny percentage of the world was doing e-mail that way anymore. Of course the payload needs a compatible OS but then over 95% of the world is running such. Telling them they're safe just because they don't use a particular client is simply bad advice.
Posted by Eric Pobirs at February 26, 2003 02:53 PM
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