An Australian anti-virus emergency response team has published infection records which show that more than one thousand users have been affected by holiday-oriented viruses over the past 45 days.
McAfee AVERT has issued a caution that several of the viruses have been designed to hide and then target computers on or around Christmas Day.
"We urge users to ensure that their anti-virus software is active and updated," said Ric Byrnes, Senior Manager for Technical Support at Network Associates International, of which McAfee is a division.
"The rule of not opening attachments, even if they appear to be from a trusted source, should be adhered to," he said.
Identification of viruses:
The following viruses contain a holiday-oriented message or payload:
Name: W32/Kriz.4050
(Discovered August 1999 - Medium Risk)
Payload: Erases portions of the computer system on Christmas Day
Link: Kriz
Name: W32/Navidad@M
Payload: Internet worm received by email with the attachment NAVIDAD.EXE
(Spanish for Christmas)
Link: Navidad
Name: W97M/Prilissa
(Discovered November 1999 - Low Risk)
Payload: Overwrites the existing C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT file on Christmas Day
Link: Prilissa
In addition to the holiday-oriented viruses, McAfee AVERT is continuing to monitor:
W32/Hybris.gen@M,
W95/MTX.gen@M
W32/ProLin@MM
McAfee AVERT has received more than 500 reported cases of the Hybris worm alone in the past 45 days, including reports from Fortune 500 companies.
Precautions:
McAfee AVERT suggests that users observe the following precautions to avoid
holiday threats:
- Delete suspicious emails from unknown senders.
- Be suspicious of all email with attachments.
- Use an email scanning anti-virus package and update it regularly.
- Back-up critical information stored on your computer.
- Avoid downloading information from unknown websites and newsgroups.
- Only disclose important financial information, such as credit card numbers, if you are certain the website is secure.
- Finally, consider saving your Microsoft Word files as Rich Text Format. RTF files do not support macros, which account for the vast majority of virus problems.
Cure:
McAfee anti-virus software can be downloaded and/or updated at www.mcafeeb2b.com or systems can be scanned over the Internet at www.mycio.com
Real-time updates and additional information can be found at www.avertlabs.com
