SPCUG Introduces 2 New General Meeting Forums

5:15 - 6:30     Trauma Center for Microsoft Program/Developers

This forum will cover what problems you are having with your data. We will also spend time sharing who you are, what you are doing, what technologies are you using, and what are you learning.

6:30 - 8:30    Microsoft Programming Technologies Related to dot.net

The Microsoft forum is open to anyone either developing with or learning any of the Microsoft programming languages. All sessions focus on how to get data from one place to the other, which requires retrieving data, then processing the data, and finally presenting it in a suitable form. The forum is participatory.  It is not a class. It is a place to congregate with others, many of who are very advanced, many of who are beginners, to share insights and learn as a result of that sharing.

Leader:  Bob Young
Email:  ryoung19@tampabay.rr.com
Phone:  792-2416

Comcast's New Security Manager
Free with your subscription to Comcast High-Speed Internet

NOTE: Before installing Security Manager:

Uninstall any existing firewall on your PC, for example, McAfee Personal Firewall.
Make sure your system meets the minimum system requirements (below) for successful installation and operation of Security Manager.

Download Comcast Security Manager today and discover all the Internet has to offer without worrying about exposure to inappropriate content, hackers, threats to your privacy and annoying pop-up advertisements. Comcast Security Manager provides one easy-to-use solution for installing and managing the following security features:

PARENTAL CONTROLS
Puts you in control of your family's Internet experience

• Filter inappropriate web content
• Set times for children's Web use
• Monitor and supervise Internet activity

PRIVACY
Keeps personal information private and blocks unwanted pop-up ads

• Pop-up blocking
• Banner ad blocking
• Spyware scan and removal

FIREWALL
Provides the best personal firewall protection available

• Blocks hackers and unauthorized intrusions
• Control which programs can and cannot use the Internet
• Easily customizable firewall rules

System Requirements:

Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, XP Professional or XP Home
128 MB RAM or higher
300 MHz or higher processor

 

Please Sign The Dave "Bytes" Guestbook

Click Image to Sign

Virus? What's a Virus?

It seems like each and every day I get an e-mail or two about the latest and most deadly virus to date. Since there are thousands of viruses out there, it would be impossible to watch out for all of them. So, I'm going to give you some general virus guidelines that you can use to help keep yourself from getting infected. It's like that old saying, "Type code for a man and get his program running for a day. Teach him C++ and get his programs working for life".

Ok, maybe that's not the *exact* way that one goes, but you get the idea.

What is a virus anyway?

A virus is an unwanted program that, in almost all cases, the user accidentally installs onto his or her computer. Some are relatively harmless and cause little, if any, damage.
Some are much more hazardous and can render the information on your computer's hard drive useless. Most just like to try to share your information, crash your computer, and spread themselves around.

So why do people make viruses?

Well, some (maybe most) do it just to see if they *can* do it. Some are genuinely looking to cause havoc. Others, and these are the ones to watch, are trying to get personal information from you. Many of the viruses out there are used to send their creator information from your computer via e-mail. Sure, there are more than just those 3 reasons, but I believe those to be the primary ones.

A day in the life of a virus

Since most of the viruses that give people trouble tend to be in the form of e-mail viruses, I'm going to give you the low down on how most of these puppies work with our computer buddy, "Jim".

Let's say Jim goes to work and checks his e-mail like he always does. He notices an e-mail from someone he knows with an attachment. The e-mail says something generic like "Hey, check out this attachment, it's really cool".

In all likelihood, there will be no signature (although there could be).

So, old Jim clicks the little paperclip icon and runs the attachment. It probably ends in ".exe" or ".zip".

Maybe he gets a cute little display on his screen (the Happy99 virus gave the user a fireworks display). Jim thinks "Hmm, that was cool" and gets back to work, completely unaware that he has been infected.

Now the virus goes to work. The first thing it will probably do is get into his address book and send itself to everyone in it. When these people get the e-mail virus, it looks like their friend Jim has just sent them a cool little file to check out. Old Jim doesn't have a clue that this has even transpired but now all his friends are opening up this little file and infecting their own computers (and sending it out to everyone in their address books). Do you see how these things can infect millions of computers in a hurry?

Another route the virus can take is to send a second e-mail with itself attached to anyone you are sending a message to. For instance, say you send Jim a message. Jim checks his e-mail and sees your message plus another message from the virus that you didn't even know you sent.

A quick way to check and see if you are infected with this type of "piggy back" virus is to send yourself an e-mail. If you get a second e-mail with an attachment, you're infected (note - this only works for viruses that spread themselves as described above).

Another way these e-mail themselves is by choosing an address from your address book as the "from" person (The Klez virus does this). So, it looks like one of Jim's friends is sending out viruses form their computer, but it's really coming from his machine.

Jim's friend then gets lots of e-mail from people telling him that he's sending out viruses! Of course, he's not, but Jim is. (In addition, Jim may get an earful from this (now former) friend once he figures out what happened!)

OK, I now what you may be thinking. Maybe you have 500 people in your address book and it seems like you would notice that there was an excessive amount of e-mail going out when you send / receive.

Well, you may with some viruses, but the smarter ones have an "SMTP" engine built in.
Simply put, they can send e-mail from your computer without using your e-mail software or server. This is done is the background and may seem like nothing more than a sluggish internet connection.

Sneaky, aren't they? That's how most e-mail viruses work.

OK, now you know what these little buggers are and how they work. Now, how do you avoid them? Well, read on for tips on avoiding all sorts of different types. We'll start with E-mail viruses since they're the most common.

What Kind of Attachments Can Contain Viruses?

Basically, anything that is executable (able to run). You're generally safe with picture files, text files, and the like. However, it still pays to scan first.

Here is a (very) short list of the most common to watch out for:

exe
zip
scr
vbs
bat
com
pif
asp
doc
xls

Those are the most common. Please, please, I beg you, don't misinterpret this to mean that if you get one of these files it's automatically a virus. A ".zip" file may be nothing more than a set of compressed files your friend sent you to look at. A "doc" or "xls" file may simply be an MS Office file. It's just that these type of files could also be viruses.

A couple other virus tricks you need to be aware of. First, MS Office files can contain what are called "Macro Viruses". Without getting into too much detail, these files can run a "macro" (a macro is a mini-program run from within another program) that can be as destructive as any "regular" virus. So, my advice on MS Office attachments is not to open them unless you are expecting them. If they just show up, verify with the sender first.

The other trick you need to look out for is an extra extension added to an attached file.
For example, you may have something like "mypicture.jpg.vbs". In fact, if you don't have your computer set to view file extensions, it may just look like "mypicture.jpg" and omit that last "vbs" part.

This may appear to be a jpg picture file, but it's actually a Visual Basic Script file.
If executed, it will happily infect your computer with a virus.

So, be careful out there.

Avoiding E-mail Viruses

Most e-mail viruses only exist to replicate themselves, kind of like a digital bacteria.
Others may do damage to your computer's files or even make your hard drive inaccessible.

What can you do?

Don't open attachments if you're not expecting them - EVER. If you get an attachment, e-mail whoever it was that sent it to you to confirm it's not a virus. Checking it with your anti-virus software isn't a bad idea either. Next to good anti-virus software, this is the #1 way to keep your computer virus free.

If you don't have any anti-virus software, get some. And keep it up to date.

If you have anti-virus software that's up to date, don't rely on it to stop every virus.
New viruses (10-15) are created each and every day. No one had a defense when the ILOVEYOU virus first hit, but folks who didn't run the attachment got away unscathed.
(Although Norton AV seems to have updates available within hours of a new virus discovery)

Finally, there is a slim chance that you may run across a virus that can infect your computer without it being run.

These viruses take advantage of a security holes in some e-mail clients, namely Outlook / Outlook Express (they can also infect you if it's on a web page viewed with MS Internet Explorer). These holes have been sealed through a patch you can get from Microsoft.

The lesson? Keep both Internet Explorer and Outlook / Outlook Express up to date. Updates are free, so there's no good reason not to keep your software current.

Remember, 99.99% of the viruses out there must be run by YOU in order to infect your computer. If you get a virus e-mailed to you, you're generally safe reading the body of the e-mail message, JUST DON'T RUN THE ATTACHMENT!! A virus can't infect your computer until you give it your consent (well, unless someone hacks into your machine and runs it,
but that's another newsletter).

If you do get a file that you suspect contains a virus, just delete it.

Don't open attachments if you're not expecting them - EVER. If you get an attachment, e-mail whoever it was that sent it to you to confirm it's not a virus. Checking it with your anti-virus software isn't a bad idea either. We recommend Norton Anti-Virus.

Next, some other ways to pick up a virus.

Although e-mail viruses are by far the most common, you can still get infected in any number of other ways. In this last section of our virus guide, we'll look at keeping you safe from as many virus sources as possible.

What is the difference between a Virus, Trojan, and Worm?

Basically, they all fall under the generally category of "viruses". However, there are a few distinctions.

Virus - Technically, a virus infects another file (attaches or inserts itself into it).
They usually infect program files or MS Office documents. From there, it can replicate, do damage, etc. Unlike a worm, these do not function as a stand alone (except possibly to infect a given file).

Worm - This is almost identical to a "true virus", except that it lives on its own and generally doesn't infect other files (although it can replace them). Usually, these copy themselves using e-mail, networks, disks, etc. Again, these are very close to a true virus, and can do the same kind of damage.

Trojan Horse - This type of program doesn't copy itself but does do damage to your computer. These types of programs rely on people to pass them around and to run them.
They do not e-mail themselves. The idea is to make the program look like it's something harmless, like a screen saver or joke, so it gets sent around.

That's the crash course on virus types. Bottom line, you don't want any of the little nastys on your computer!

Other virus sources

Although e-mail viruses are by far the most common, you can still get infected in any number of other ways. In this last section of our virus guide, we'll look at keeping you safe from as many virus sources as possible.

Unknown download sites - Be careful when downloading software from the net, especially from a virtual shareware library. A virtual shareware library is a site that has software listings on it, but they don't keep the software on their server. Just hover your mouse pointer over the download link and look at the bottom of your browser. If the URL shown
is not the same as the site's it's a virtual shareware library. Most shareware sites are.

This isn't to say that you're going to get a virus by downloading software from them. In fact, I've never had a problem (and I download tons of software).

What I normally do is try to go to the software's web page. If it seems to be a
trustworthy company, I download. Then I double-check the file with my anti-virus software.

Floppy Disks - Passing around floppy disks use to be the number one way of getting a virus, but it isn't as common as it used to be. In general, just be careful about running programs on floppy disks, especially those from questionable sources.

Another thing to be careful of is floppy boot sector viruses. If you have an infected floppy with this type of virus on it, you'll be infected if you forget to take it out of your drive when you re-boot your computer. To avoid problems, just don't leave floppy disks in your drive.

Of course, it doesn't hurt to scan your floppy with your AV software either.

Macro Viruses - I had mentioned this briefly earlier. Be careful with MS office documents that come from questionable sources. They can contain what's called a macro virus. These can delete files, alter program menus, and more.

Unfortunately, these are relatively easy to write, so they are among the most widespread variety of viruses. Be extremely careful when opening unknown MS office files, especially Word documents. Probably a good idea to save these files to disk then check them with your anti-virus software before opening them.

Well, that's about it. I know we could easily fill a book discussing viruses, but I'm just trying to pass along the basics.

Just remember, keep your anti-virus software up to date and don't run / open any files you don't trust 110%.

Here's An Outlook 2003 Tip

Get reminded to reply to a message  To get reminded to reply to a message, right-click the message you want to set the reminder for, point to Follow Up, and then click Add Reminder. In the Due By list, click the date when you have to complete the reply. In the second list, click a time. In the Flag color list, click the flag color you want, and then click OK.

Want to Join SPCUG or Renew Your Membership?

While Wandering The Web

Internet Fraud Complaint Center

Found that your identity has been stolen? Report it to the IFCC, a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center.

 http://www1.ifccfbi.gov/index.asp 

Pause For Thought

He is able who thinks he is able -Buddha

Obituary

Someone Else

SPCUG was saddened to learn this week of the death of one of our most valued members, Someone Else. Someone’s passing creates a vacancy that will be difficult to fill. Else has been with us for many years and for every one of those years, Someone did far more than a normal person’s share of the work.

Whenever there was a job to do, a class to teach, or a meeting to attend, one name was on everyone’s list, “Let Someone Else do it.” Whenever leadership was mentioned, this wonderful person was looked to for inspiration as well as results; “Someone Else can work with that group.” It was common knowledge that Someone Else was among the most liberal givers in SPCUG. Whenever there was a financial need, everyone just assumed Someone Else would make up the difference.

Someone Else was a wonderful person; sometimes appearing superhuman. Were the truth known, everybody expected too much of Someone Else. Now Someone Else is gone! We wonder what we are going to do.

Someone Else left a wonderful example to follow, but who is going to follow it? Who is going to do the things Someone Else did? When you are asked to help this year, remember – we can’t depend on Someone Else anymore.

Don't Be an Invisible Member -- Get Involved

To inquire about volunteer opportunities

Click Here

 Remember.. "The more you put in .... the more you'll take out"

And Now Here's

Dave's Cool Downloads

Internet Traffic Report
Click to see current report

Are your colleagues looking at your strangely because you visit InternetTraffic Report too many times during the day? Want to know exactly what's happening on the net, without having to launch a browser every time? If so, your dreams have come true - the Internet Traffic Report (ITR) client is now available to grace your Windows computer!

So just what exactly will this wondrous program do? Most of the time it will sit happily in your system tray (normally in the lower right of the desktop, where the time is shown). While in the system tray, it will indicate the current ITR rating for network performance. Not in the US? No problem, in the configuration you can specify which region you would like to monitor, and that will be the ITR rating displayed! But the ITR client doesn't stop there, it also includes a super-fast trace route utility to help spot problem areas on the Internet, as well as let you see what other computers you move through when going to other locations on the net. A visual ping utility is included, to help visualize what's happening - while the graphs look cool, the import information is the minimum, maximum and average output displayed at the bottom.

In the configuration dialog, you can easily tweak most of the features of the program, such as the maximum number of networks that will be traversed, the number of pings used in the visual ping utility, whether or not computer names and cities are resolved, and more! None of the options are destructive, so don't worry about playing around with them you can do so to your hearts content.

Don't forget to visit Internet Traffic Report at:

http://www.internettrafficreport.com/