a genuine virus warning

[Jerry Bricker]

on 3/6/01 8:50 PM, Doug Yanega at dyanega at POP.UCR.EDU wrote:

> Just heard about the new "naked wife" worm on NPR, and symantec's site
> confirms it:
> 
> http://service1.symantec.com/sarc/sarc.nsf/html/W32.Naked@mm.html
> 
> "W32.Naked at mm is a mass mailing worm that disguises itself as flash movie..
> The attachment is named NakedWife.exe. This worm, after it has attempted to
> email everyone in the Microsoft Outlook address book, will attempt to
> delete several system files. This will leave the system unusable, requiring
> a re-install."
> 
> Forewarned is forearmed, and as subscribers to mailing lists, we're
> especially easy targets (one subscriber gets it and it gets passed to the
> whole list). I fully expect we'll all see it within the next few days, as
> with the Hybris worm. Life would be simpler if NO ONE used Microsoft
> Outlook; all the major worms and viruses rely on it to propagate (if you
> don't use MO, it can't spread from your machine).
> 
I love these kinds of warnings!  They always assume the recipient is a
victim of Microsoft's global monopoly of the computer operating system.
Having 90% of the world's computers running one company's OS may be good for
that company but it creates some real headaches for the users, worms,
viruses and trojans being just a few of the more irritable examples.

I always use the analogy of biological viruses in this case.  Populations
with low levels of diversity are highly susceptible to a pathogen,
especially a highly virulent one.  Genetic diversity is the key to survival..
In the case of computer viruses, diverse operating systems hold the key to
survival.  So I'll gently pat my bondi blue iMac and thank my Macintosh OS
for protecting from the hysteria that will surely surround the next viral
attack (if it isn't Naked Wife it will be another).  I assume Linux machines
would also carry a certain level of protection.

Macs aren't immune to viruses but the chance of contracting them is much
lower than with Wintel machines.  An added benefit is that the OS is more
stable than Windows.

Is it any suprise the individual or group that created Naked Wife uses the
handle "BGK (Bill Gates Killer)"?

Cheers!

JB

_______________________________________

Jerry Bricker
Department of Biological Sciences
Cameron University
2800 W. Gore Blvd.
Lawton, OK 73505
Phone: 580-581-2374
FAX: 580-591-8004
E-mail: jeraldbr at cameron.edu
Website: cameron.edu/~jeraldbr

"If it disagrees with experiment, it¹s wrong. In that simple statement is
the key to science. It doesn¹t matter how beautiful the theory is, how smart
you are, or what your name is - if it disagrees with experiment, it¹s
wrong."

Richard P. Feyman