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** EMERGENCY VIRUS ALERT - W32/Goner@MM **
McAfee Associates (via email) | 12/04/01 | McAfee Associates

Posted on 12/04/2001 8:11:34 PM PST by Neil E. Wright

(((((((((((((( McAfee.com Affiliate Dispatch ))))))))))))))

------------------------------------------------------------
** EMERGENCY VIRUS ALERT - W32/Goner@MM **
------------------------------------------------------------

To all McAfee.com Affiliates:

McAfee.com has seen an OUTBREAK of computers infected with W32/Goner@MM, also known as Pentagone, Goner or Gone. This is a NEW, HIGH RISK virus that spreads via Microsoft Outlook email and ICQ instant messaging programs.

Goner has a DESTRUCTIVE PAYLOAD. When the attachment is opened, it will look for a variety of anti-virus, firewall and other security programs and attempt to delete them, along with ALL FILES in the same directory. This worm will also place a trojan, REMOTE32.INI, on the system, which contains instructions to attempt Denial-of-Service attacks on other IRC users.

To notify your customers of this threat, please copy and paste the Virus Alert Banners* on to your site. We have included special banner code at the bottom of this email.

Here's the link:

VirusAlert_468x60


TOPICS: Announcements; Breaking News; Miscellaneous
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Posted here as a public service to all users of Microsoft Outlook or ICQ.

Toward FREEDOM

1 posted on 12/04/2001 8:11:34 PM PST by Neil E. Wright (newright@ctaz.com)
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To: Neil E. Wright
Thanks for the alert!

Forgive me for interrupting your very important thoughts and profound wisdom, but we are in the midst of the most exciting fundraiser ever on FreeRepublic. I would hate for any of you to miss it!

Come visit us at Freepathon Holidays are Here Again: Let's Really Light Our Tree This Year - Thread 5

and be a part of something that is larger than all of us.

Alone, we are a voice crying in the wilderness. Together we are a force for positive action!

Don't be left out!

Be one who can someday say..................... "I was there when..................."

Thank you to everyone who has already come by and become a part!

2 posted on 12/04/2001 8:15:46 PM PST by 2ndMostConservativeBrdMember
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To: Neil E. Wright
Norton just posted another update. I didn't check, but I assume this probably is in response to the same virus, which has been making heavy inroads today.
3 posted on 12/04/2001 8:17:54 PM PST by Cicero
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To: Neil E. Wright
Anyone who has been on the net for at least 2 years, and still downloads strange programs sent to him by total strangers shouldn't be allowed to own a computer....

...or vote.

4 posted on 12/04/2001 8:23:01 PM PST by lowbridge
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To: Neil E. Wright
Warning to all folks, I got this Virus and had no clue this morning. I didn't download it, but still am paranoid as heck. Be careful FReepers.

DON'T OPEN ANY MESSAGE WHICH SAYS "HI"

5 posted on 12/04/2001 8:23:05 PM PST by Dengar01
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To: lowbridge
Perhaps part of the boot process should be a butterfly ballot. If you can't follow a freakin' line, then you don't get an OS to play on.
6 posted on 12/04/2001 8:27:43 PM PST by Redcloak
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To: Dengar01
DON'T OPEN ANY MESSAGE WHICH SAYS "HI"

Hi!

7 posted on 12/04/2001 8:31:12 PM PST by lowbridge
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To: lowbridge
Thanks for the comedic relief. I was going nuts earlier worrying if I had the virus, and if my computer would explode. So Hi Back to ya. BTW I love your Al-Qaeda Underground site. Has the DUngs said anything about it yet? Maybe they'll call you a racist or whine like they normally do. But keep up the goodwork.
8 posted on 12/04/2001 8:37:31 PM PST by Dengar01
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To: lowbridge
You would be surprised at how many otherwise intelligent people opend this worm. It was spreading like wildfire in the e-mail system of a certain Federal agency that ought to know better.

Can't believe they don't require Microsoft to place a warning on every copy of MS Outlook saying, "Warning: this product is highly suseptable to virii and worms, use only if you are willing to lose everything on your hard drive, end all of your Internet friendships and indemnify MS for responsibility for any ulcers, heart attacks, strokes, broken bones from punching your monitor, etc."

9 posted on 12/04/2001 8:48:29 PM PST by anymouse
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To: Dengar01
. So Hi Back to ya. BTW I love your Al-Qaeda Underground site. Has the DUngs said anything about it yet? Maybe they'll call you a racist or whine like they normally do.

They have devoted a whole thread to it :-)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/cgi-bin/duforum/duboard.cgi?az=list_threads&om=1715&forum=DCForumID12

Many of them threatened to sue, and my email (the one I use on my al-QU site) was flooded with "pif" viruses. :-)

10 posted on 12/04/2001 9:26:33 PM PST by lowbridge
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To: anymouse

"..otherwise intelligent people.."

Why is it that too few get the message - that MS Outlook should be called, "Look Out!"

Intelligent people long ago walked away from all of the MS 'Typhoid Mary' email clients, avoiding the MANY multiple pitfalls. Problem is, too few people are really 'intelligent' when is comes to computers - they are users of a system they know far too little about - having too little experience and too little knowledge.

I use an old email client from years ago, with zero problems. I can 'open' all email without fear of virus problems - simply because those who wrote it were wiser than those MS hires today. Not only does it stop all potential virus and html-Java traps and viciousness - it has a ton of other advantages as well. Here are just a few of them.

The software lets me look at all email-headers on the ISP server - before I download it to my system and decided if I even want to take the time to download it. I can see who sent it, what route it took to get to me, what size it is, whether it has any attachments and what the subject line is. If I don't recognize the sender, don't like the subject or if the file is huge (as many virus-content-laden mail is) - I can delete the mail on the ISP server without downloading it. (I delete more than half of the email sent to me, on the server, without ever opening it or downloading it to my system.)

If I decide to open the mail while it is still on the ISP server, I can do so without worry about any attachments doing a thing to my system. If I want the mail - then I can download it to my system. The software also allows me to leave mail on the ISP server for a time if I want to do so for any reason.

When I have downloaded mail to my system, I can save any attachment without opening it or executing any attachment, and scan it for virus in the process. I can also look at the full content of all attachments in numerous ways without fear of virus content.

I am an ISP - I get about two to three hundred pieces of email a day - and virus among them is very common. Since before the Internet was born (publicly,) I've been the recipient and sender of more email than most people - and I have never contracted a single virus. I almost did - once... when I visited my son and he handed me a diskette that had a boot-virus on it, but my system caught it immediately.

Suggestion for 'intelligent people' - get McAfee scan, and learn how and when to use it - but don't buy nor install their full automatic software. If you don't know what you are doing, you might want to install Norton's System Works... and hope - but that has its own set of problems, only slightly less onerous than McAfee, and not quite as effective or as thorough. McAfee normally gets fixes out faster, and has better access to virus data-file updates on the net.

11 posted on 12/04/2001 9:42:37 PM PST by Ron C.
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To: Ron C.
I use an old email client from years ago, with zero problems.

And the name of this software is? Is it still available?

12 posted on 12/04/2001 10:21:01 PM PST by upchuck
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To: Neil E. Wright

13 posted on 12/04/2001 10:23:30 PM PST by Texaggie79
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To: upchuck
"Is it still available?"

No, it isn't (Spry Mail - from the old 'Internet in a Box' software, and later offered by AOL for a short time.)

But, not to despair - there are many free email clients - one I would recommend is Pegasus. See pmail.com for info, it is one of the best, imho - but, set it up for text-only use - you'll be more safe than otherwise.

14 posted on 12/04/2001 10:26:33 PM PST by Ron C.
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To: Neil E. Wright
Norton loaded something on my system today. There was no update scheduled so I quess this is what it's about. Thanks for the post.
15 posted on 12/04/2001 10:32:48 PM PST by Cold Heat
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To: Neil E. Wright
The root virus of all this stuff goes back a ways: it's Microsoft Outlook. It's not only a lame, terrible program, it's a natural breeding ground for viruses due to all its design flaws.

Replace Outlook with a real emailer like Eudora - problem solved!

16 posted on 12/04/2001 11:46:21 PM PST by Hank Rearden
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To: Hank Rearden
"Replace Outlook with a real emailer like Eudora - problem solved!"

Or run under Linux instead of the swiss cheese that the folks at Redmond call an operating system.

17 posted on 12/05/2001 2:36:25 AM PST by Clive
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To: Dengar01
I had a look at the DUh thread. Those folks are truly funny (and they cannot spell). I especially liked the post from someone who uses the nom de guerre "webmaster" and has a site called oreilly-sucks.dum (or something like that). he/she/it was crowing that the "freepers have a secret message board where all they do is talk about me!" He/she/it went on to say that he/she/it couldn't find it at FR (gee, I wonder why) but was just bursting with pride that freepers might actually think he/she/it was relevant.

The most noticeable aspect of their posts was a nearly universal self absorption, everything is about me and my perspective. They include cute quotes in all their posts, presumably to demonstrate their intellectual superiority.

18 posted on 12/05/2001 5:50:51 AM PST by lafroste
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To: Ron C.; upchuck
I just registered my free copies of IncrediMail. The program itself is buggy, but I *love* the new feature called "Advanced Account Access" where you can preview the messages on the server before downloading them onto your PC. IncrediMail is actually lots of fun and allows you to be really creative. Now it's got this great safety feature, too!
19 posted on 12/05/2001 6:26:49 AM PST by buickmackane
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To: Dengar01
I got the same message twice from my brother and his father-in-law...I didn't understand the messages, but there was nothing to download. My brother told me to check my outbox to see if I had spread it to anyone else, but so far I haven't.
20 posted on 12/05/2001 6:41:29 AM PST by DJ88
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