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May
7, 2000
By JIM
BROOKS
If
you've been anywhere near your computer recently, you've probably
already heard about the recent outbreak of what's been called "The
Love Bug." "I Love You," or "Love Letter"
virus.
Love
Bug isn't actually a virus, but what's know as a "worm"
-- a bit of software code that is downloaded to your computer and
executed (or run) by you.
In
the case of Love Bug, it arrives at your computer in the form of
an attachment to an e-mail message.
The
message is from someone who would normally have your address in
their e-mail address book, and it includes an attachment called
"Love-Letter-For-You" or some variation of that. If you
click on the attachment, that starts the script that infects your
PC with the Love Bug.
Attachments
seem to be commonplace these days in business and personal e-mail.
And what makes the Love Bug more dangerous is that you'll receive
it most likely from someone you know.
Love
Bug duplicates itself by sending itself to e-mail addresses in your
address book, and affects primarily Microsoft Outlook and Outlook
Express users.
When
you click on the Love Bug attachment (or any of its variants) the
worm immediately is activated.
According
to the ZDNet web site, the worm first makes changes to your computer's
registry, then sends itself to everyone in your address book. It
then reportedly corrupts files ending with .vbs, .vbe, .js, .css,
.wsh, .sct, .hta, .jpg, .jpeg, .mp2, .mp3 by overwriting them with
a copy of itself.
If
you receive an attachment you weren't expecting, don't click on
it if you aren't sure what it is. If you have any doubt at all,
send an e-mail message to the person and confirm that they actually
sent something in the attachment.
Even
if you don't use Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express, clicking
on the attachment can infect your PC with the Love Bug. And according
to the published reports I've read, even if the worm can't e-mail
itself, the worm can still delete image and sound files on an infected
PC.
And
variations of the same worm seem to be spreading, using a different
name for the attachment. The name may be different, but the result
is the same.
How
can you avoid the Love Bug and its variations (At press time, there
were at least five additional variations of the Love Bug virus --
including a "Very Funny" variation, a "Joke"
variation and another that is an alleged invoice for a Mother's
Day gift)?
1.
First, don't open any e-mail with the subject line "I Love
You." If you receive one, delete it immediately, and alert
the person who sent it that their system may be infected with the
Love Bug.
2.
If you think you might have the worm on your computer, you can check
for it with an updated virus scanner (you may need to download an
update from the software company's web site to be sure).
Several
security companies have posted information about the virus on their
Web sites, including how to remove it from your computer. For more
information visit;
http://download.mcafee.com/
www.datafellows.com/download-purchase/updates.html
www.antivirus.com/download/pattern.asp
www.sophos.com/downloads/ide/index.html#loveleta
While
the Love Bug and its many variants have been a headache for PC owners,
Macintosh owners again have no virus or worm worries -- while they
can indeed forward the Love Bug, their operating systems are immune.
RAGING SEARCH. Search engines aren't news these days, but a
new one from an old-name search firm is making news.
AltaVista,
one of the oldest names in search engines-turned portals, recently
announced Raging Search -- an all-new search engine that offers
"the most relevant results, the fastest search, and the easiest
site to use."
Oldtimers
on the Web will remember the days when AltaVista was primarily just
a search engine. Raging Search is a move by the company to re-establish
itself as a clean and simple -- but higher tech -- search site.
Marketing
claims aside, there's no denying that Ragine Search is one truly
easy to use and very fast.
There's
a block to enter your search term(s) and a "Search" button
to get you started. A link to "customize" your search
rounds out this extremely simple interface.
The
real question that begs to be answered is this: Does Raging Search
work?
If
my test searches conducted are any indication, you won't be disappointed
with Raging Search.
Raging
Search is very fast and very thorough, giving you revelant information
at the top of every search.
The
search results offer you additional links that help you further
refine your search.
A "More
like this" link allows you to find similar content from other
Web sites. Another link lets you search for similar content only
on that one site. Nice touches indeed.
Right
now my favorite search tools are Ask Jeeves (www.ask.com) and Yahoo!
(www.yahoo.com). I think I'll be trying Raging Search (www.ragingsearch.com)
in the mix as well to see how this upstart stacks up against the
tried and true search veterans.
AOL
5.0 FOR THE MAC. The nation's largest Internet provider has
released a new version of its software for the Apple Macintosh operating
system.
- AOL
5.0 was recently released for the Mac, seven months after it was
released for the Windows operating system.
- The
new software adds some user-friendly features, including:
- Two
additional screen names per account for a total of seven;
- Screen
names can now accept up to 16 characters.
- E-mail
can have "signatures";
- "You've
Got Pictures" allows users to store photos online;
One
thing to note is that AOL 5.0 includes Internet Explorer 4.0, the
older version of the Microsoft Web browser.
IE
4 was included because version 5 wasn't available while AOL's new
Macintosh software was being developed, according to AOL.
Users
may want to make sure they keep the later browser if they install
AOL 5.0.
Comments
and questions about this column may be sent to jbrooks@myoldkentuckyhome.com,
or visit www.myoldkentuckyhome.com
on the World Wide Web.
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