Mimail Virus inflicts Windows
Published January 26, 2004
I've written several times about why Mac's are in some cases, superior to PCs. In a previous post I talked about Microsoft's lack of standard's compliance. Another good reason for choosing a mac is that relatively few viruses affect them, which is important today.
Right now a nasty virus/worm is going around the internet
From Cnet:
update A mass-mailing virus quickly spread through the Internet on Monday, compromising computers so that they attack the SCO Group's Web server with a flood of data on Feb. 1, according to antivirus companies.
The virus--known as MyDoom, Novarg and as a variant of the Mimail virus by different antivirus companies--arrives in an in-box with one of several different random subject lines, such as "Mail Delivery System," "Test" or "Mail Transaction Failed." The body of the e-mail contains an executable file and a statement such as: "The message contains Unicode characters and has been sent as a binary attachment."
Antivirus companies were scrambling on Monday afternoon to learn more about the virus, which started spreading at about noon PST. The virus affects computers running Windows versions 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000 and XP.
This is a nasty virus. It really won't hurt you, but it appears to be meant to target corporate sites with denial of service type attacks.
I was sent the virus. Somehow it slipped through my ISP's anti-virus.
I got it, opened it, and looked at it, and used the power of OS X to destroy it. I did keep a copy of it to send to someone who might write me nasty comments to my more political mided posts.
Just one more reason to use a Mac, and ditch the Windows.
- Mimail Virus inflicts Windows
- Published: January 26, 2004
- Type:
- Section: Sci/Tech
- Filed Under: Sci/Tech: Internet, Sci/Tech: Software
- Writer: Tom Bux
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Comments on this articleComments
"I did keep a copy of it to send to someone who might write me nasty comments to my more political mided posts. "
You know that does qualify as a threat and the FBI could come after you for it?
Thank God my suspicious nature got the better of me today. I received two of them but fortunately I use a spam program that lets me check my mail on the ISP servers before downloading. As soon as I saw "the message contains Unicode characters and has been sent as a binary attachment" I knew something was up. Whew!
I must have gotten at least a dozen in just a few hours. (Maybe Tom Bux sent them.) My policy with unsolicited mail that has attachments is:
1) Do not to open the attachment it at all.
2) Delete the message instead of sending it to or leaving it in the junk mail folder.
I guess these simple steps haven't caught on with everyone, but I think most people are savvy by now. By opening the attachments, one risks a possibility of infection, since Macs are not resistant to all viruses under OS X. So, don't open them.
This is a sneaky virus. I got an email saying a message I sent had the virus in it, and that if I wanted to see an explanation, I should open the attachment (and therefore infecting myself but I can't get the virus)
Sneaky sneaky
You know that does qualify as a threat and the FBI could come after you for it?
DISCLAIMER:
I was kidding about sending the virus out.
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If Mac had the market share that Windows does, and vice versa, it would be Mac users that would be getting all the viruses.