30 October 2004

And Worms...


As of October 29, 2004 9:40 AM (GMT -7:00; Daylight Saving Time), TrendLabs has declared a Medium Risk Virus Alert to control the spread of WORM_BAGLE.AU. TrendLabs has received several infection reports indicating that this malware is spreading in US, Japan, Sweden, Germany, Mexico, France, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, and Canada.


Like other BAGLE variants, the success of this worm may be attributed to its plain and brief email messages that bear the following details:


From:
Subject any of the following
• Re:
• Re: Hello
• Re: Hi
• Re: Thank you!
• Re: Thanks :)

Message body: any of the following
• :)
• :))

Attachment:
any of the following
• PRICE
• JOKE

with the following extension names
• COM
• CPL
• EXE
• SCR

This worm scans an infected system for files with certain extension names to acquire its target recipients. It then uses its own SMTP engine and the domain servers of its harvested email addresses for its mailing routine. Unsuspecting users may then receive email messages from trusted acquaintances and readily execute the attachment, thus launching this worm.


For more information on WORM_BAGLE.AU, you can visit the Trend Micro Web site.

29 October 2004

Another Bagle...

As of October 29, 2004, 2:07 AM (-7:00; Daylight Saving Time), TrendLabs has declared a Medium Risk Virus Alert to control the spread of WORM_BAGLE.AT. TrendLabs has received several infection reports indicating that this malware is spreading in Japan, Sweden, China and Germany.

This worm uses its own SMTP engine to propagate via email. It arrives as either of the following attachments:
• PRICE.CPL
• PRICE.COM
• PRICE.EXE
• PRICE.SCR
• JOKE.CPL
• JOKE.COM
• JOKE.EXE

This worm searches the drive for folders with names containing the string "shared". It then drops itself in these shared folders using certain file names.

For more information on WORM_BAGLE.AT, you can visit the Trend Micro Web site.


25 October 2004

KurzweilAI.net

KurzweilAI.net

Or you can visit his web site. Don't forget to say hello to Ramona while you're there.

23 October 2004

Machine Dreams - Oct 15,2004

"When software runs inside our brains, what will happen to us? Ray Kurzweil, who helped invent the IT present, explains to Web Editorial Director Art Jahnke how humans fit into the IT future. You may not like it.
INTERVIEW BY ART JAHNKE"Read the full interview at CIO Magazine...

19 October 2004

Bush Misleads on Flu Vaccine

During the presidential debate last Wednesday, President Bush said the problem was that "we relied upon a company out of England."1 That isn't true. Chiron Corp., the company whose vaccine plant was contaminated, is a California company - subject to regulation by the U.S. government - that operates a factory in England.2
Read the full story at Misleader.org: Daily Mislead

17 October 2004

Personal Technology -- Personal Technology from The Wall Street Journal.

Browsing safely: I suggest dumping Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser, which has a history of security breaches. I recommend instead Mozilla Firefox, which is free at www.mozilla.org. It's not only more secure but also more modern and advanced

Read the full article on computer security by Walt Mossberg...

Current Electoral Vote Predictor 2004

View up to date poll summaries here

Kerry is ahead in electorial votes. And he has the big MO...

16 October 2004

Historians vs. George W. Bush

A recent informal, unscientific survey of historians conducted at my suggestion by George Mason University’s History News Network found that eight in ten historians responding rate the current presidency an overall failure.

Read the full article...

12 October 2004

01 October 2004

Arthur C Clarke receives Heinlein Award

The Heinlein Society's Fourth Annual Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Dinner was held Friday, September 3, 2004 in the Belvedere Ballroom of the Hilton Boston Back Bay Hotel. It coincided with the 62nd World Science Fiction Convention in Boston, Massachusetts.

The evening began with a reception and cocktail hour followed by dinner. At 8:15 PM, an Internet audio video connection was established with Sir Arthur C. Clarke... Continue Reading