CNN breaking news- Computer Worm

Apparently there is a worm on the loose that affects window based platforms..
This looks big.

Thanks for the heads up Pyd.

I updated my Windows 2000 and antivirus. I just don't know if I updated it with a fix or if this is too new yet.

Greg

yesterday /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/Christo_pull_hair.gif

Norton Anti-Virus blocked a worm on my computer yesterday. First time I ever had that happen.

My anti-virus expired on the 14th, I thought I would shop around a bit for an anti-virus adapted for my style of internet use, I have a wireless laptop that is used frequently on WiFi hot spots, wherever I happen to be.
I lost a pile of photos once to a worm, it was devistaing at the time, I don't want to see that happen twice.

Try and google "free antivirus". The first hits are Panda, AVG, and Avast. I have heard good things about all of those. Some people prefer them because they don't load all the extra code that Norton does which many people think is worse for the computer than many viruses.

Then again, one drawback may be slower responce to a threat like today's worm. I just received a Virus Threat alert from Norton notifying me that my computer was covered. I thought that was a nice touch. I wonder if the free services have patches out yet?

Panda isn't free. It's what I use and has been better than Norton or McAfee was in my experience.

I wonder if there is a free trial version?

Bill

I will try that now, Thanks!

The free Panda, Bill, is an online scanner.

F-Prot's got one of the most generous licenses I know of. Their "home use" product says $29.95 to cover FIVE computers for up to a year. This is good, no, excellent considering I have more than one computer around. In fact I'm using 3-4 of my 5 eligible licenses at the moment and I think it is most certainly worth the money.

They used to be really big in the DOS days, not as famous now, but they sure have kept up. Their product is quite effective, it's nailed a few nasty buggers before they've had a chance to take me down.

Plus, their UNIX versions are free for personal use!


PS: the worm is exploiting an operating system loophole, not the lack of antivirus per se. Won't get into the specifics of why. The three pronged defense is always patch your system, always run antivirus AND antispyware, and keep your firewall up. That way if one of them fails, chances are the other two may slow it down enough to buy you time.

I've heard it uses the Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) ports 139 and 445 on Windows 2000 machines to first gain entry to a local network. Microsoft issued a security fix a week ago, but since then someone has unleashed this worm that will infect computers that don't have the fix.

You can check your computer for any open ports here:
https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2
then click "Proceed".

That site gives my computer a perfect "TruStealth" rating. I'm running XP with ZoneAlarm. I don't know if ZoneAlarm is necessary with XP's built-in firewall, but I have been running it for 7 years and now it's a habit.

You can go to www.grc.com and disable UPnP too:

http://www.grc.com/unpnp/unpnp.htm

-Bill