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computer viruses


lynn jones

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I lost all day yesterday due the SQL worm.  Central IT saw a lot of traffic from one of my buildings so just shut down the network.  Never mind that.  They didn't bother to even attempt to call me until almost 7 hours after they shut down the network.  Never mind that I am required to give them my unlisted home phone number as well as my personal cell phone number so they can call for these types of things!

They just shut down a half dozen buildings and went home at the end of their shift without telling ANYONE that they had done it!  

Someone at central IT will have a VERY sore arse tomorrow morning by the time a dozen sysadmins get done chewing on their supervisor who will then pass it along.  Hopefully they will also get to learn where the unemployment office is and how to fill out the forms.  

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SS,

You can probably salvage your computer.  It may take a reload of the OS on a clean disk but it is probably fine.  Now if it is an old POS computer you may not want to put the time and, possibly, money into it but it is worth a shot.

-ld

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i found out that there is a patch for network administrators to install to fix this kind of attack that was released six months ago..

lynn jones

ps   Singlestack, always check for windows updates for your computer.  do this by clicking on the "start button" and look for "windows update" .  fwiw

(Edited by lynn jones at 12:05 pm on Jan. 28, 2003)

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thanks for the tips guys. You can bet I will be more "up to date" with my new PC. I was very lazy with my old one. I just thought my Celleron 400mhz was fast. This new PC has a P4 2.5ghz processor and it SMOKES!!! I now know how fast DSL really is. It makes my old machine look like a 286 with a 24k modem.

I now go to Norton everyday looking for updates!

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I was a little wierded out by it at first (because I'm a control freak), but I've come to terms with just letting Norton do the virus updates totally automatically.  I'm pretty sure it's saved my bacon several times by now.  I still refuse to grant Microsoft the same courtesy just because of nightmares past, but Symantec really has everything working seamlessly.  Consider giving it a whirl.  It's certainly more reliable than relying on myself over the long haul.

In Norton AntiVirus:

Under: Options | Live Update

Check: "Enable Automatic Live Update"

Select: Apply updates without interrupting me

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My set-up:  Win XP pro,  cable modem,  nortons anti-virus 2002 with live update running,  nortons 2002 personal firewall,  always on a connected.

I didn't get a hit at all from the latest or any major in the last year or so.  I get intrusion alerts and bogus emails but I just delete anything I don't recognize and keep on keepin' on.  

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Yeah...there was a patch released in July.  Yes, lots of folks installed it, even more didn't.  I did.  However, subsequent patches from Micro$oft as well as installation of other software retrograded the patch without warning.

So goes the life of a sysadmin....Blech.  Oh well...only 27 more years and I can retire...maybe.

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Norton updates its software and virus definitions every Wednesday. There is no need to run Live Update every day.

I use Norton System Works 2001 and Norton Internet Security 2003 on a Windows 98 OS, 56k modem, and Outlook Express. I have scheduled tasks of Norton Antivirus to run every day to scan my entire hard drive for viruses, Norton System Check to run every day to make sure my hard drive/files are running at their peak, and Windows Critical Updates to run everyday. Norton makes great software, and I wouldn't think of running my computer without it. The antivirus constantly runs in the backround with Auto-Protect, it scans all incoming and outgoing email for viruses, and I'm able to block all email attachments from being opened and infecting my system without first getting my authorization and first being scanned with the antivirus program. It may sound like overkill, but I have had the dreaded Klez virus infect my computer through an email attachment prior to instituting more strenuous defenses. I ended up having to reformat my hard drive, and reinstall all of my software and my OS. That is no fun, and a lot of work. The Norton systems do come at a cost to your user resources. I have installed 512 mb of memory, and the OS runs slower than it would otherwise; a reasonable trade off though.

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