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E-Mail
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Scatter Creek InfoNet Subscriber |
E-Mail Virus - Mydoom
E-mail Worm Returns
The
"Mydoom" e-mail worm has returned. First discovered in January 2004,
Mydoom became one of the top ten most prolific virus/worms of last
year. Now anti-virus companies have reported a new variant of this
mass-mailing worm. The variant is called "W32.Mydoom.AX@mm" and its
discovery is one more example of why we encourage all our Internet
users to install virus-scanning software on their computers and to
frequently update their security software. (Note: Mydoom infects only
Windows-based operating systems — not Macintosh, Linux, or UNIX
systems.)
The W32.Mydoom.AX@mm e-mail worm (also known as W32/Mydoom.bb@MM) is a
mass-mailing worm that sends itself as an e-mail attachment to e-mail
addresses found within an infected computer. Although the sender's
address, the subject line, and the text within the message of the
e-mail can vary greatly (making detection more difficult), the "from"
address is usually spoofed to show coming from places like
"Postmaster," "Mail Administrator," "The Post Office," "Mail Delivery
Subsystem," "MAILER-DAEMON," or "Bounced mail." The subject line will
commonly say something like "Returned mail: see transcript for
details," "Returned mail: Data format error delivered," "Message could
not be delivered," or "Mail System Error - Returned Mail." The message
body text varies but may say something like this:
"Dear user of (your ISP domain here),
We have received reports that your e-mail account has been used to send
a large amount of unsolicited e-mail messages during this week. We
suspect that your computer was compromised and now runs a hidden proxy
server.
We recommend you to follow our instruction in the attached file in
order to keep your computer safe.
Virtually yours,
(your ISP domain here) support team."
The message leads users to believe they have received a bounced back
e-mail message notification from their Internet service provider. When
opening the accompanying attachment, however, the recipient's machine
becomes infected with the Mydoom worm. This results in replicated
e-mails being automatically mass-mailed to the e-mail addresses found
on the recipient's computer.
The W32.Mydoom.AX@mm worm also includes a "backdoor" feature that opens
TCP port 1034 on the infected machine. This allows hackers to
potentially have remote access and control of the infected computer.
Remember, receiving an e-mail attachment from a trusted friend or a
reliable source may not necessarily mean they were the actual senders
of the message and attachment. We encourage each of our users to
install and utilize virus-scanning software, to update this software on
a regular basis, and to scan all incoming attachments before opening
them, even if the attachment shows coming from a trusted source. The
ultimate responsibility of protecting your computer against worms and
viruses lies with you. In addition, many viruses and worms spread not
only via e-mail, but also through the sharing of files when using
floppy disks, zip disks, and networks, as well as when downloading
software. Be sure to scan these files for infections as well.
Equipment
Upgrade Is Underway - Scatter
Creek InfoNet To Roll Out Next Generation DSL Platform
Equipment is currently being installed that will allow Scatter Creek InfoNet to offer ADSL 2+ in portions of its service territory. ADSL 2+ allows for greater bandwidth and higher speeds. Look for more information on this new service availability in the next few months!
Ask The Help
Desk - What Does "OS" Mean?
Question: I
was reading a computer-related article the other day and it mentioned
"OS." I've heard "OS" mentioned in conversations but I've never known
what it meant. What is it?
Answer: "OS" stands for "Operating System." It's the system
that makes your computer run. There are several popular systems
available on the market. Macintosh OSX (that's "Oh Es Ten"), Windows in
its various flavors from 95, to 98, to XP, and Linux in its various
forms. If you're having trouble with your computer and you are talking
to a tech support person, he/she will usually ask you what OS you are
running. Your answer will most likely be one of the aforementioned
systems.
Great Sites To
Check Out This Month
Helpful
Tax Information In March
http://irs.gov/ -
If you are a "do-it-yourselfer" when it comes to filing your federal
income tax return, the IRS lets taxpayers file returns totally free
this year without the prerequisite of purchasing special software.
Already over 60 million 2004 tax returns have been "e-filed." Not only
is this method fast, but also if you owe money you can authorize
electronic funds withdrawn from your checking account, savings account,
or even use a credit card. There's also a link to "Forms and
Publications" that'll allow you to print off and file returns via snail
mail.
"The Tonight Show" With Johnny Carson
http://JohnnyCarson.com -
January 23, 2005 marked the passing of the greatest nighttime TV
entertainer of our generation. Born in Corning, Iowa, Johnny Carson
began his show business career as a teenage magician and ventriloquist.
After serving in the U.S. Navy during W.W.II and then graduating from
the University of Nebraska, Mr. Carson worked his way through radio and
TV broadcasting positions. He eventually took over Jack Paar's hosting
duties of "The Tonight Show" and entertained North America each weekday
evening for almost 30 years. It is estimated that over 50 million
people watched his last show in May 1992. "The Official Tonight Show
Website" provides many video clips of some of the best moments in the
show's history.
Do Some Research Before Your Next Purchase
http://ConsumerSearch.com -
Are you looking to buy a new hedge trimmer this spring? How about a
stair stepper to burn off those extra pounds you put on during the
winter? Before you make a purchase, head to ConsumerSearch.com for
listings and reviews of top-rated products according to a variety of
industry experts. The site can be used as a search engine to find
product analysis on dozens of products. The data includes in-depth
evaluations plus independent rankings of the reviews by
ConsumerSearch.com staff.
Collecting PEZ Candy Dispensers
http://PEZ.com -
Do you remember eating PEZ candy as a kid? Opening the lid on the
dispenser to see the candy pop out was as much fun as actually eating
the candy. First marketed as a peppermint condiment in Vienna, Austria,
over 70 years ago, the term PEZ was derived from the German word for
peppermint. Today, over 3 billion PEZ candies are consumed annually in
North America alone. Plus, the dispensers have become hot collectibles
for both kids and adults. To see dozens of photos of people with their
PEZ dispenser collections (some of the collections are pretty huge) or
to send a photo of you with your collection to be posted on this
website, head on over to PEZ.com.
It's Time For Some March Madness!
http://ncaasports.com/ -
There's no better time of the year for college basketball fans than
March. There's also no better website that covers the sport than the
official site for both the men's and women's NCAA basketball
championships. The site provides links to information on Final Four
individual and team records (i.e. Bill Bradley still holds the single
game tournament record with 58 points in 1963 while Lorri Bauman from
Drake University set the record in 1982 on the women's side with 50
points), championship video archives, the brackets and locations for
each of the playoff rounds, articles highlighting recent big games, as
well as ticket price information.
Short Tutorial - Creating
A Backup Of Your Outlook Express E-mail
Most
people find that both their personal and business e-mail messages
create a kind of journal. In the same way that people keep shoeboxes of
special letters sent from friends or file cabinet drawers containing
letters and documents from business associates, many users today use
their e-mail software as an archive resource.
A hard disk failure or corrupted e-mail files caused by a computer
virus could cause the loss of a user's archived e-mail correspondence.
To help safeguard against such an occurrence, users can create a backup
of their e-mail messages. As the tutorials below detail, a user can
copy all of his/her e-mail files, save them to a secure location, and
then restore the files if needed at a later date.
To backup e-mail messages in Outlook Express 6.0 and Windows
XP, follow these steps:
To restore e-mail messages from a backup in Outlook Express 6.0
and Windows XP, follow these steps:
To backup e-mail messages when using Macintosh's Entourage
e-mail client:
Macintosh users can protect their e-mail messages and settings by
creating a backup of their Documents folder and saving it to a secure
location. Each of the relevant Microsoft identity files for Entourage
is contained within the Documents folder. It's a matter of simply
dragging a copy of the folder to a disc.
We hope
you found this newsletter to be informative. It's our way of keeping
you posted on the happenings at our shop. If, however, you'd prefer not
to receive these bulletins on a monthly basis, click HERE.
Thanks for your business!
Best regards,
All
of Us at Scatter Creek InfoNet
Scatter Creek InfoNet
225 Central Ave West
Tenino, WA 98589
360-264-6300
Scatter Creek InfoNet
290 N 1st Street
Kalama, WA 98625
360-673-2975
©2005
Cornerstone Publishing Group Inc.
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are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of
their respective owners.