No cause for alarm...

... and please, don't panic. It's the panic that makes these things worse.

I don't like posting this sort of thing, but the media's doing it, so here's the story...

There has been an announcement of the "Sasser.D" worm, which could affect certain broadband users.

You are NOT likely to be vulnerable if any of the following apply...

1. You run Linux or MacOS
2. You have a good Firewall
3. You have installed MS Patch KB835732 for windows 2000 or XP
4. You have run MS Updade since about mid April.

Note, this does not affect other windows versions, but they can possibly be carriers.

Again, there is no need to panic, it will not do any permanent damage, but please be on the lookout for this. It can cause extremely severe annoyance.

Sio.

Trust the penguin, the penguin is your friend.

Yes

No problems here on either the XP or the Linux box.

What always makes me laugh (in a very cynical and resigned way) is when people gloat that they're too knowledgable a user to require windows updates or a virus scanner ("I'm great, I'm careful what I download, blah blah blah", then they complain when weird stuff happens or their box goes incredibly slow... so to show off their knowledge further, they format the drive and reinstall Windows

Haha, well that's the thing with a worm, a download isn't needed.

OMG PANIC PANIC PANIC OMG OMG OMG OMG HELP i think my computar has a viris!

IMO it is sheer idiocy in this day and age to:

1. Not have at least 1 of a virus scanner, spyware scanner, and pop-up blocker.

2. Not to download patches/updates to these products, AND security patches to your operating system as they become available.

Of course, this is coming from someone who doesn't have a firewall *sigh*.

Rather have a firewall (stop those proggies from phoning home most importantly! oh and the worms of late) than a virus scanner.

Actually the only virus scanner I have is the free online ones.

I figure, hell I've already got the Windows virus here, no point in getting virus protection really. Seriously, I don't want to put up with the potential slowdowns, conflicts with other software, probable fees for keeping it up to date, general annoyance, and slowdown of reboot speed. Never had a serious virus (other than spyware types) since getting an internet connection. Knock on wood.

Try Kerio personal firewall, but try to find 2.14 if you can. The new version has fallen victim to 'BLOATWARE' syndrome and now has craploads of ...crap. And they changed the UI enough that I would have to relearn it, so it automatically sucks for that reason too.

Or at least get Zone Alarm.

Everytime I see one of these, I'm tempted to yell "this wouldn't be a problem if every user under Windows didn't need full administrator priveleges just to read mail or play a game". Geez, levels of OS protection have only been around for about 40 years now, I can see why Redmond hasn't caught up.

</rant>

Heh, and I'd be excited if MS just put in native multiple desktops.

Yes I do.

See, I go for days without rebooting, sometimes running things that can't be stopped without restarting them from the beginning. On top of that, I need Admin powers to install new games. In other words, I need Admin all the time, everywhere.

Besides, I'm a control freak. Must have absolute, total control, 100.0% of the time. Can't do that without admin control (and a firewall).

Why not re-login as a different user without rebooting? Or just log a second account on (root, etc) leaving the main online also. Point is, I don't think you need to stop everything running in order to get admin privs for a few minutes.

Not that I wouldn't be annoyed by this myself, heh.

sudo

So shall we just ignore those .pif attachments from [email]garoad_kuroda@secondlife.com[/email]?



Seriously though, I can't believe people still shy away from running virus scanners. I haven't had any compatibility problems for years, any slowdowns are rare and negligible and with a free one such as AVG you don't even need to pay a subscription fee.

Granted, by being careful with email (i.e. NOT using Outlook), watching what you download, keeping up to date with Internet Explorer patches etc (or running Mozilla) I've been *far* less likely to obtain a virus. But I once managed to 'stumble' into Kazaa (*cough*) - and that's one of the finest examples of why you should always be scanning.

Yeah, let this count as my disclaimer. I don't run virus software other than online virus scans. So put me on ignore now; if you don't and you get a virus from me, don't complain.

How's that for blaming the victim?

If you scan your computer's hard drive regularly, even with a free online tool, such as Trend Micro's online scanner, you're probably pretty safe. If you're doing a lot of downloading of questionable files, )you l33t warez kiddie, you!) you probably can scrounge up a decent installable virus scanner instead of using a Java or ActiveX-based one.

Me? I don't feel the need to purchase a virus scanner, as the free online one is just fine by me.

Devlin's right, if you don't take precautions, you're going to run into trouble. However, a firewall is more important than anything else. Devlin, get one.

If you didn't catch it, there was a hint of tongue-in-cheek humour there... I needed a victim.

If you use the online ones once in a while it's still 100x safer than the folks who don't do either, and proves you have enough of a brain in your head to prevent viruses in the first place... as such, my 'victim' is probably one of the safest to deal with