Dear ALL: A short introduction and a update on the issue of virus and security. My name is John A. Hansen and the new mailing List Adm. I'm retired ( mostly) with a Scottish wife, 4 grown children and 7 grandchildren. We live in Issaquah Wa ( near Seattle) and tracing a bunch of ancestors. Did you notice that your number of "dead ends" grows exponentially with the number of generations you try to go back :-). The virus issue is on everyone's mind today and will be even more so in coming months. The current famous one is Code Red , but that is serious mostly for people running servers for web pages and larger networks etc. However, there are a couple of baddies out there right now. One is Sir Cam and the other is Bad Trans. You can get the details on these by going to www.sarc.com and looking at their level 4 alerts. However, there is also more serious virii ( plural) coming and the gloves are off. There are now at least several groups of offshore professionals thieves that have discovered that using viruses is a easy way to get new fraud victims. The scam works like this. These professionals are getting victims easily and cheaply by using virus to plant Trojans, "cuckoo eggs" and other programs ( called malware) to forward "info" to a site, called a "drop". The specific info they want is credit card numbers, SSN, bank account numbers, passwords etc. They use that info for identity theft and just to ding your account or credit card for a few bucks. While the general warning to never ever ever open an attachment is good, there are other ways for them to get in. Attachments can be single extensions ( PDF, jpg, zip etc) and any email message with the standard html format can easily have embedded scripts ( you don't even have to open it , they will do all the work for you ! So get and maintain a set of Antivirus software ....now! I've included a nicely written overall summary by BJ Hamilton of the virus and Firewall situation. I use ZoneAlarm pro as my firewall because I have a home network and I like to mess around with this stuff:-) But their freeware program is also good. I do consistently get pings and probes so I know it's happening. A freeware version of the Program is available at www.zonelabs.com. It's a bit of a pain to run because you keep getting alerts, but that's better than not knowing. I also use the programs mentioned below to test my security on a regular basis ( once a month) . There is also the program at www.pcpitstop.com that does free online testing of your computer status and security. Some references for Anti virus software are as follows and freeware and shareware products are available at www.tucows.com. There is also a nice site at www.webattack.com/freeware with good programs. If you have any further questions about viruses, please consult your anti-virus software vendor or visit one of these sites: http://www.mcafee.com/anti-virus/default.asp? http://antivirus.about.com/compute/antivirus/ http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/ http://www.claws-and-paws.com/virus/ http://www.eicar.com/ http://www.av-test.org/ http://helpvirus.com/ My candidates for review ( from my own favorites file) http://www.securityportal.com/articles/malware20010129.html http://securityportal.com/virus/ http://www.antivirus.com/vinfo/vprimer.htm http://www.sarc.com/avcenter/security/ ( see article on email worms) http://www.sarc.com/ ( nice summary of current active "level 4" virus threats http://www.sarc.com/avcenter/security/Content/2000_05_26_a.html ( good article on embedded scripting and the countermeasures) Some Newsgroups: alt.comp.virus alt.comp.anti-virus alt.comp.source.code symantec.support.**** ( specific version of OS) There is also a good mailing list here at Rootsweb. The name is virus-discussion-L@rootsweb.com. The list adm is George Elting. subscribe by sending email to: virus-discussion-L-request@rootsweb.com My strong recommendation for your protection is to: A: Get Anti virus Software of some kind. B: Update it once a week C: Install a firewall ( software version) D: Use passwords on access to your computer E: Do a security check with an Internet site once a month. It's easy and free F: Do Not open any message with attachments. Remember attachments now can be single extensions, including .pdf etc In case you receive a message with a virus or attachments the Virus procedure is simply as follows. Remember attachments now can be single extensions, including .pdf etc A: Send the name of the person to me with copy to the list for a heads up. B: Delete the message I will then remove the infected user. There are some options if you are unfortunate and get infected some way. These options include using the digest mode and posting to the message boards since many of these lists are gatewayed from the message boards as well. If we all work together, we can keep this mailing list clean. Best Regards John A Hansen jahansen@qwest.net List Adm -----Original Message----- From: bounce-ftmtech-l-9376775@lyris.genealogy.com [mailto:bounce-ftmtech-l-9376775@lyris.genealogy.com]On Behalf Of BJ Hamilton Sent: Monday, August 06, 2001 9:26 PM To: Family Tree Maker Discussion List Subject: Re: virus is getting bad.... I had it, too... reprinted with permission from BJ Hamilton JAH Dear All: There is quite a bit of emotional rhetoric regarding viruses and network security. So this is a brief explanation of terms and then a web address that has outstanding advice as well as explanations and some diagnostic tools to help you determine how vulnerable your system is. I heartily recommend you run both his Shields and Probe applications. Definitions: 1. Firewall - this is normally a computer which protects a local area network (LAN) by restricting who may access the LAN from the internet as well as restricting who on the LAN may access the internet and what areas may be accessed. They may be very sophisticated and expensive running on a separate computer or they can simply be a utility, which runs on your personal computer protecting you from the Internet. Consequently they can be very expensive or on the other hand they can be rather inexpensive. Some of the personal firewalls will cost around $30-$50. BlackGuard, Symantic and McAfee (I think) all offer personal firewalls. One firewall that has received a lot of praise is ZoneAlarm (found at: http://www.zonelabs.com). It is free for personal use although they also offer a version, ZoneAlarm Pro, for about $40 which checks your email for viruses. I use the free version. 2. Routers and Gateways - These may be computers but tend to be dedicated machines which sit between networks and forward (or route) all packets (traffic) to other networks (The internet is just like a big series of networks and all traffic is forwarded by routers using the TCP/IP addresses.) Again these can be very expensive devices but within the past year or two, D-Link, Linksys and SMC have been developed inexpensive devices for home and small office use. These tend to cost about $130 - $200. They are rather simple to install and operate. I simply installed mine, provided it with my ISP ID and Password and did nothing else. It is always on - protecting all of my computers from external probes because it answers the Internet address and then routes the packets to the appropriate internal network addresses. The gateways and routers have no files or programs, which can be accessed so they act as a protection against anyone attempting to access my computer. Normally they do not stop your machine from accessing the Internet. They also allow multiple users/computers to access the Internet simultaneously using a single ISP address. Because no one can get your internal computer address, it acts as a sort of firewall also. For maximum protection, I use both a gateway and a personal firewall. I use the firewall because it allows me to control what programs or utilities on my computer can access the network. I have a list of applications that I have granted access to the network. If another program attempts to access the network, ZoneAlarm intercepts the attempt, opens a dialog window and I can either prohibit the access or allow the access (on a once only basis or continuous basis). For those who want more details about security in general, I suggest the following web site: https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2 ( Note by JAH) : This site does a full online security check on your computer as well. Run both the "shields up" and "probes" ! This site is provided by Steve Gibson. This web site provides extensive information in an easy reading manner for the non-technophile. Explore to your heart's content. I'm going to have to go back and revisit it because he has done considerable upgrading since I last looked at the site. Let me know if I haven't answered your question or if you don't understand my explanations. BJ Hamilton