Carolyn Shearer had this bit of extremely useful information sent to her from her own server, and she passed it along to me. It's timely, especially as I got struck down in my prime by that Marker Virus last week. If you read the paper today, there is a 4-column article warning that there is about to be another major virus attack against primarily NETWORKING computer systems, which won't bother most of us, but will hit businesses hard when it hits, if they aren't watching. Even so, this one is going to be hard to stop, it said. The problem is those people who are dissatisfied with the companies who make Windows 98, (as it's the one coming Virus will attack, Networks mainly.) and other programs like MSOffice. Their primary complaint is Microsoft has failed to address certain security issues in their programs. These Virus writers are making themselves heard by writing programs which will MAKE them address the issues, but in doing that they hurt all of us. Someone asked me just this past week, WHY do they do this. Well, that's what the paper said. There has just been a huge convention out in Las Vegas where all these virus writers met. And, they warned the next big virus is coming down the pike. All you who are getting this and work in a networking office, had best read today's paper, fast. This particular Virus is called BO2K, and the paper says whatever precautions you may be able to take may be 'fleeting' due to the way the virus is written. It says "it can enable someone to gain control of your computer or a network from a remote location." Victoria Advocate, page 5A, 12 July 1999. For those of us who are simply ordinary people like me, trying to deal with these guys, it's a real problem. I advise all of you, if you have not done so, to hie yourselves down to the computer software place and buy an extremely good software pack that will stop most of these bugs. And, since they offer free updates for at least a year, (my McAfee Office 2000 offers one for the life of my product and includes a lot of other good stuff), on their websites, plus daily, even hourly input re new viruses, I think you would be better off to have it going, and fast, if you do not. I don't know if I am safe, but I feel better. And, if you are already well protected, you need to run that virus update once a week off their pages. And virus scan EVERYTHING coming in, email or attachment. Email is now beginning to be targeted, too. Here's Carolyn's information. I hope you take advantage of her thinking of us all. I dislike bringing all this up again, but since I am a computer support person for Victoria County Genealogy Society, I need to help you guard yourselves. I didn't do so well for myself, and I hate for you all to fall into that. bj Worms and viruses are not the only plagues that infest the Internet. The net also abounds in hoaxes about viruses, chain letters, and just plain old ordinary hoaxes. So this week we are listing several sites that help you keep track of them. http://ciac.llnl.gov is a site run by the U.S. Government's Department of Energy. It lists not only real viruses and worms but also hoaxes pretending to be computer attack programs. Please note that the address for this site is NOT on the World Wide Web, so it does not require the "www" prefix, it is just http://ciac.llnl.gov Please note also the warning that by using the site you will be subject to "security monitoring and testing. All activity is logged with your host name and IP address." http://www.nonprofit.net/hoax/hoax.html is a non-profit site that exposes Internet hoaxes and chain letters. http://www.kumite.com/ dispels myths about computer viruses. Webmaster Rob Rosenberger wisely notes the Latin phrase "Mundus vult decipi" (the world wants to be deceived) and invites you to read about him before you take his advice. http://www.historybuff.com includes a list of great hoaxes throughout history. http://urbanlegends.about.com/ tracks current Internet hoaxes and offers message boards to discuss many other myths and legends in the popular culture.