Virus infection rates on the rise

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

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