Learned a Lesson today....

I found out at 11am (Pacific) this morn that my Server in Florida had been hit with the "Nimbda" virus.

That Server holds 22 of my websites which are ALL DOWN until the techies can find a fix.

This points out the NEED for "De-Centralization"! SPREAD OUT the risk!....so that WHEN (not "if" anymore) your Server is hit....only a few of your sites go dead!

Also...anyone know of a Host that "may" have "good security"?

As far as I am concerned, ANYONE who sends a Virus should ALSO be considered a TERRORIST...and tracked down and punished!

The person or persons who would have the gall to send out a virus at THIS TIME...are especially good candidates for "Terrorist" treatment!

Don Alm

It's called NIMBDA or "CODE BLUE".

This one can be activated by simply opening an email message AND just by visiting a website that is Hosted by an infected Server.

Here's the info....

Don Alm

> I found out at 11am (Pacific) this morn that
> my Server in Florida had been hit with the
> "Nimbda" virus.

> That Server holds 22 of my websites which
> are ALL DOWN until the techies can find a
> fix.

> This points out the NEED for
> "De-Centralization"! SPREAD OUT
> the risk!....so that WHEN (not
> "if" anymore) your Server is
> hit....only a few of your sites go dead!

> Also...anyone know of a Host that
> "may" have "good
> security"?

> As far as I am concerned, ANYONE who sends a
> Virus should ALSO be considered a
> TERRORIST...and tracked down and punished!

> The person or persons who would have the
> gall to send out a virus at THIS TIME...are
> especially good candidates for
> "Terrorist" treatment!

> Don Alm




Info on New Virus

Don --

Sorry to hear of your problem. For everyone here is the easy way to avoid this virus. Don't use a Microsoft product to surf the web or read your mail! Notice this:

>Nimda -- Admin backwards -- only infects computers running a
>Microsoft operating system and Microsoft's e-mail, Web browser or
>Web server applications.

If you surf using Netscape or Opera you won't pick this up from visiting a web page. If you use Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express to read your mail I would turn them off before surfing the web. And let Microsoft know you tired of these viruses infecting your system every other week.

I ran a report on our sites on the last Microsoft "virus", CodeRed. It was really bogging things down. Not infecting anything just all the attempts to infect our server.

-- Dan Butler
The Naked PC


Make your computer fun again...

Dan -

> Don't use a Microsoft product to surf the
> web or read your mail!

True. However, there are some issues surrounding this for many people.

1. Many companies large and small, including the one where I have my contract, have standardized on MS products. So not using them might not be an option for some folks.

2. As I think you know, I use Pegasus on my notebook computer and have never had a virus get through it. However, I was totally unable to get Pegasus working on my other machine. So I was "forced" to use OE so my other family members could use e-mail again.

3. I used Enigma for awhile as my web browser. It uses the IE DLLs so it's basically a smaller version of IE. However, it had lots of annoying habits so much so that I went back to IE. Older versions of NS such as 4.7 don't seem to support the current certificates in use at most sites. I tried NS 6.0 when it was in beta. What a dog. Is 6.1 any better? I've never tried Opera.

4. I know you know this but it bears repeating for those who might not know it. Good, (and it goes without saying up-to-date), virus protection will help prevent a lot of this although the very latest junk might get through.

5. And finally, again for those who might not know it, ***ABSOLUTELY NEVER*** open an e-mail attachment unless you know the sender and you're expecting an attachment. At the very least the sender should tell you what's attached, the size, etc.

Rick Smith, "The Net Guerrilla"




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