Security Risk Alerts

Horace Greeley hgreeley@popserver4.Stanford.EDU
Sat Sep 4 15:24 MDT 1999


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Ron and all,

At 04:08 AM 9/4/99 -0400, you wrote: 

>
> Since I put together a presentation on Internet-originating security hazards
> (Viruses, Trojan Horses, and Worms) for the KC Cybercafe, I've been
> monitoring a couple of sites to see if anything new is on the horizon. I
> wasn't surprised to discover a couple of rather new problems and, since they
> sound particularly "troublematic," I thought I'd pass them along to you. 


Hmmm - do you have anything in PowerPoint or Presentations that you might be
willing to share?

>
> The first one deals with Internet Explorer 5 - the newest version. Here's the
> headline from MSNBC. It's linked to the article as all you have to do is
> click on it. <http://www.msnbc.com/news/305560.asp#BODY>IE5 flaw leaves PCs
> vulnerable. There are some key actions you must take to prevent someone from
> running amok with your computer. If you've installed the latest version of
> Internet Explorer [IE5], this is must read material! 


Our office (400+ machines) has stuck with IE4.  The "integration enhancements"
between IE5 and whatever-flavor-Windows one is running often (seem to) lead to
unpredictable operation, let alone internet security issues.

Depending on how your internet connection is setup, you might consider finding
out if your ISP offers some kind of firewall service.  For those of us whose
main connection is through a College or University, policies seem to vary
wildly about these issues.  While my office machine is constantly on, it sits
behind a modest "screen" which can trap attempts at unauthorized entry.  My
home machine is physically disconnected from the phoneline/network when I am
not actively on the internet.

>
> The second Internet "treat" won't actually start causing problems until
> December 13 (No, it's a Monday - what could be worse than Friday the
> Thirteenth? A "thursday virus" that strikes on Monday!!), but lest you forget
> -- and this is one helluva nasty virus, so you don't want to forget about it!
> -- here are links to the  MSNBC article on the so-called
> "<http://www.msnbc.com/news/307497.asp>Thursday virus" and another one to the
> <http://www.datafellows.com/virus-info/virus-news/>Datafellows: Virus News
> website where you can often find software to combat these viruses. 


Get a good virus program, keep it updated, use it.  Better yet, use two; one
"live", one for manual, or less frequent runs.

>
> Play it safe, folks! 


Backup.  Backup.  Backup.

And test 'em.  They have no value if you don't know that they work.

Sorry if this sounds like so much "metooism".  Our service group has a constant
barrage of laptop/home users who disable their virus software,  blow off making
sure that their machines are backed up, etc., etc., and then wonder why they
lose _everything_ on their machines.

Hope everyone is able to take some time to relax and enjoy the weekend.

Best regards to all.

Horace




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