Check out this critical patch

[Casson Bieffe]

 

[Keith Esau]

When is Microsoft going to put in a filter to stop these virus posts from
getting into the newsgroup?

Keith Esau
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Ric Barline]

Good question, but as I understand it, Microsoft does not monitor
these discussions all that closely, and even if it did, how could it
possibly filter these out tis spam since they are being posted by
individuals? Spam has finally infected our newsgroup, and we'll
probably have to live with it.

Microsoft, in their attempt to stop the spread of viruses, has repeatedly
stated that they NEVER announce updates by way of email to users -
they only announce security updates at their website (or by users
running the Windows Update application in the Start button pop-up).
However, I read in an article today that there are still millions of
window's users who are either not aware or for some reason not
running the security updates as they are made available, so they
remain vulnerable. Of course there is no way for Microsoft to keep
someone from launching an email attached virus, the kind we are
seeing now in our Mac discussion group.

Let's not get smug about being Mac users (as another post did
recently). The article I read also said that the only reason Mac users are
exempted from these viruses is that the people creating them think the
numbers of Mac users is too small to bother with. That should be a bit
humbling to us.

 

[FW]

When is Microsoft going to put in a filter to stop these virus posts from
getting into the newsgroup?

Keith Esau
(e-mail address removed)

Absolutely, this crap should be blocked on contact. What's going on!?

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Hi Ric,

You make some good points. Specific comments below.

Good question, but as I understand it, Microsoft does not monitor
these discussions all that closely, and even if it did, how could it
possibly filter these out tis spam since they are being posted by
individuals? Spam has finally infected our newsgroup, and we'll
probably have to live with it.

You're right that MS does not monitor specific newsgroups closely but they
are certainly aware of what's going on when it comes to viruses and server
slowdowns. If they weren't, believe me, the MVPs would let them know about
it loud and clear (in fact, we do anyway .

MS has a team working on solutions to block these virus messages but they're
obviously still having problems ... and still working on solutions. Note
that the 100K and larger swen messages are now rarely sneaking through.
This new rash of 12-15K posts is proving harder to weed out. Fortunately,
though, they're more a nuisance than a threat since they carry no virus
payload. Apparently, though, there's a new variation which carries a .zip

Microsoft, in their attempt to stop the spread of viruses, has repeatedly
stated that they NEVER announce updates by way of email to users -
they only announce security updates at their website (or by users
running the Windows Update application in the Start button pop-up).
However, I read in an article today that there are still millions of
window's users who are either not aware or for some reason not
running the security updates as they are made available, so they
remain vulnerable. Of course there is no way for Microsoft to keep
someone from launching an email attached virus, the kind we are
seeing now in our Mac discussion group.

Quite correct.

Let's not get smug about being Mac users (as another post did
recently). The article I read also said that the only reason Mac users are
exempted from these viruses is that the people creating them think the
numbers of Mac users is too small to bother with. That should be a bit
humbling to us.

Actually, with the advent of OS X/Unix, it's more that it's just plain
difficult to write viruses for the Mac. However any Mac user who does not
run a virus protection program and keep the virus definitions updated is
asking for trouble eventually. There are still macro viruses and others
which Macs, if their users aren't careful and/or don't know any better, can
catch and spread. And an infected Mac or a careless Mac user can wreak
havoc on his/her PC friends.

--
Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/WordMac/index.htm>
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/toc.html>

 

[Phillip M. Jones, C.E.T.]

Hi Ric,

You make some good points. Specific comments below.



You're right that MS does not monitor specific newsgroups closely but they
are certainly aware of what's going on when it comes to viruses and server
slowdowns. If they weren't, believe me, the MVPs would let them know about
it loud and clear (in fact, we do anyway .

MS has a team working on solutions to block these virus messages but they're
obviously still having problems ... and still working on solutions. Note
that the 100K and larger swen messages are now rarely sneaking through.
This new rash of 12-15K posts is proving harder to weed out. Fortunately,
though, they're more a nuisance than a threat since they carry no virus
payload. Apparently, though, there's a new variation which carries a .zip


Quite correct.


Actually, with the advent of OS X/Unix, it's more that it's just plain
difficult to write viruses for the Mac. However any Mac user who does not
run a virus protection program and keep the virus definitions updated is
asking for trouble eventually. There are still macro viruses and others
which Macs, if their users aren't careful and/or don't know any better, can
catch and spread. And an infected Mac or a careless Mac user can wreak
havoc on his/her PC friends.

--
Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/WordMac/index.htm>
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/toc.html>

The only place I've never seen the MS patch junk is on the netscape
secure news server. In fact in the 7-8 years I've been reading
newsgroups on that server I've only seen two or three pieces of spam.

Perhaps if all the newsgroups were changed to secure servers. most of
the spam would go away.
--
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phillip M. Jones, CET |MEMBER:VPEA (LIFE) ETA-I, NESDA,ISCET, Sterling
616 Liberty Street |Who's Who. PHONE:276-632-5045, FAX:276-632-0868
Martinsville Va |[email protected], ICQ11269732, AIM pjonescet
24112-1809
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

If it's "fixed", don't "break it"!

mailto[email protected]

<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/default.htm>
<http://home.kimbanet.com/~pjones/birthday/index.htm>
<http://vpea.exis.net>

 

[John McGhie [MVP]]

Hi Ric:

Good points.

Microsoft *is* in fact monitoring these groups for viruses VERY closely, but
for obvious reasons they do not want us discussing the details publicly.

They are hoping to be able to soon get to the point where no-one will ever
be able to get a virus into here.

The current Windows virus that is doing this is a much nastier program than
its predecessors: it contains its own built-in email server and its own
built-in newsgroup client. This means it is actually very difficult for a
user to know that they are infected or see what the beast is doing.

But I agree with you: there are 300 million Windows computers out there that
should be running Windows Update every time they logon. They are not,
because someone who knows little about computers asked someone who knows
even less and was told "Don't run that, that allows the forces of darkness
to take over your computer."

Personally, I know a fair bit about computers. Enough to know that
Microsoft knows a damned sight more about Windows than I do. My Windows
Update is set to Fully Automatic, and has been for years

Cheers

Good question, but as I understand it, Microsoft does not monitor
these discussions all that closely, and even if it did, how could it
possibly filter these out tis spam since they are being posted by
individuals? Spam has finally infected our newsgroup, and we'll
probably have to live with it.

Microsoft, in their attempt to stop the spread of viruses, has repeatedly
stated that they NEVER announce updates by way of email to users -
they only announce security updates at their website (or by users
running the Windows Update application in the Start button pop-up).
However, I read in an article today that there are still millions of
window's users who are either not aware or for some reason not
running the security updates as they are made available, so they
remain vulnerable. Of course there is no way for Microsoft to keep
someone from launching an email attached virus, the kind we are
seeing now in our Mac discussion group.

Let's not get smug about being Mac users (as another post did
recently). The article I read also said that the only reason Mac users are
exempted from these viruses is that the people creating them think the
numbers of Mac users is too small to bother with. That should be a bit
humbling to us.

--
All Spam and attachments blocked by Microsoft Entourage for Mac OS X. Please
post replies to the newsgroup to maintain the thread.

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP: Word for Macintosh and Word for Windows
Consultant Technical Writer <[email protected]>
+61 4 1209 1410; Sydney, Australia: GMT + 10 hrs

 

[John McGhie [MVP]]

Hi Philip:

Perhaps if all the newsgroups were changed to secure servers. most of
the spam would go away.

Unfortunately, so would most of the posters!

Our problem is that the Microsoft Servers are still peering with the other
news servers around the world (as they should be).

Anything posted to the Microsoft server is automatically de-loused. But the
other news servers around the world are currently not willing to accept
responsibility for what they send out.

None of the Spam you see is being posted to the Microsoft servers: it would
automatically be refused. It is all coming in off other servers over which
Microsoft has no control.

Cheers

--
All Spam and attachments blocked by Microsoft Entourage for Mac OS X. Please
post replies to the newsgroup to maintain the thread.

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP: Word for Macintosh and Word for Windows
Consultant Technical Writer <[email protected]>
+61 4 1209 1410; Sydney, Australia: GMT + 10 hrs