VIRUS!!!! W32.Beagle.M@mm - is on the RAMPAGE!!!

[Hechler Family]

Horace, et al,

Point well taken if I were running a Mac. However, in my case, I'm 
running "the other free alternative" now for eight+ years virus free 
with no antivirus software installed.

<flame suit on> Linux with FREE and very protective firewall setup 
<flame suit off>

To run your own FIREWALL test, click on the following link

Shields UP! -- Internet Connection Security Analysis 
<https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2>

Mine showed all the ports were "stealthed" which they should be for 
proper protection. How did yours show ?

Duaine

Horace Greeley wrote:

>
> Duaine,
>
> At 12:59 PM 3/19/2004, you wrote:
>
>> Listers,
>>
>> I won't be affected because myself (and Mac users) don't have .exe files
>
>
> Hmmm - I wouldn't be quite so smug...no, you don't have .exe 
> files...but, you have lots and lots of other interesting stuff.
>
> Once you move to OX-blah-du-Jour, you will be in much more 
> invasion-prone territory...from which MACs have historically been 
> relatively protected...not any more...it's still a pretty face, but 
> the underlying 'Nix OS is much more vulnerable than it ever was before.
>
> Make sure that you have a full, new set of Norton MAC utilities handy, 
> know how to use them, and remember to run whatever the latest 
> equivalent of "Disk First Aid" is before running Disk Doctor.  YMMV.
>
> No, I am not bashing MACs and I don't like Billy-Ware, either...it's 
> even worse...it's just a bigger, easier target.  If MACs still had the 
> market penetration they did 10 years ago, then they would be a much 
> more attractive target.  At this point, it's effectively down to: "Why 
> bother?"  If it weren't we'd be hearing about viruses and hacks for 
> MACs a good deal more than we do now.
>
> Practice safe computing!
>
>  - Buy and _use_ a good set of AV/Utilities products.  Get something 
> that offers, and then _use_ the automatic update and scan features.
>
>  - Make frequent backups.  There are plenty of cost-effective ways in 
> which to do this now.
>
>  - If you insistent on leaving sensitive data (of any kind) on your 
> local hard drive, plan on losing it sometime.  Removable drives are 
> very cheap (comparatively).  An easy thing to do is to install (at 
> least) your financial programs to such a disk and then simply remove 
> it when you are either: 1.- on line (for other than downloading 
> updates); or, 2.- not immediately working with that data.
>
>  - Use an ISP who does at least some filtering/AV scanning for you.  
> No, they aren't free; but they can provide reasonable service and at 
> least some degree of protection, especially for those who are either 
> way to busy or otherwise technophobic (I include myself...I automate 
> everything I can).
>
> Best.
>
> Horace
>