[Gatesedge] Fw: [Ansteorra-announce] Important plea from the Ansteorra admins...

[Stephen Macthomas]

Greetings unto the list:

I am forwarding this rather lengthy e-mail to the list unedited, because it
covers some extremely important virus information.  The first year and a
half that this list has been in existence, I have interrupted exactly one
virus.  In the past month, I have caught over twenty instances.

I implore you as your list administrator and as your friend - please do as
Pug asks on the forwarded e-mail.  As many of us are on each other's address
books privately, and not through the list, everyone who does not have
*current* virus software and definitions is at risk of not only being
infected, but of passing the virus along to others without knowing what's
going on until it's too late.  (When the filter pended one worm-sent posting
to the list and sent a "pending approval" notice to the sender, that person
then contacted me asking "what post?")

Personally, I use McAfee Virus Scan Online - my definitions are
automatically checked every time I go online, which is every time I turn my
PC on, and an update is offered whenever it's out of date.  I've seen
updated definitions offered three and four times a week through the service,
so I know it's very current to recent outbreaks.  Your Mileage May Vary,
however, so do some research into what's going to work for you.

Discussions of anti-virus methods, education and resources, because of the
recent spike in activity and the higher risk of infection to our
subscribers, is considered a relevant topic to this list and any threads
that follow the courtesy rules of posting (i.e. discussion of general group
interest and not private conversation about what such-and-such a virus did
to so-and-so's computer) will be welcome.  As always, this is at the
discretion of the adminstrator and if things get too far out of proportion
I'll address the situation.

If anyone has any questions, please contact me privately.

In your service,
Stephen Macthomas
Gatesedge List Administrator

P.S.  Because of the higher activity on the list, I am looking for someone
that would be willing to assist me in this endeavor - that way if I'm out of
town, there's another person keeping an eye on things.  If you're
interested, please contact me privately.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Pug Bainter" <serveradmin at ansteorra.org>
To: <ansteorra-announce at ansteorra.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2002 8:49 AM
Subject: [Ansteorra-announce] Important plea from the Ansteorra admins...


> Good Morning,
>
> IMPORTANT: IMPORTANT: IMPORTANT: IMPORTANT: IMPORTANT: IMPORTANT:
IMPORTANT:
> IMPORTANT: IMPORTANT: IMPORTANT: IMPORTANT: IMPORTANT: IMPORTANT:
IMPORTANT:
>
>   Do not think that this message is not aimed at you until you have done
>   as I request below.
>
> IMPORTANT: IMPORTANT: IMPORTANT: IMPORTANT: IMPORTANT: IMPORTANT:
IMPORTANT:
> IMPORTANT: IMPORTANT: IMPORTANT: IMPORTANT: IMPORTANT: IMPORTANT:
IMPORTANT:
>
>   Because of the rampant nature of the current strains of virus within
>   the SCA community in this Kingdom, I am sending this message. I
>   encourage all of you, if not getting on my knees to plea, that each of
>   you:
>
> - Get virus software installed
> - Update your virus software to the latest version
> - Update your virus definitions to the lastest version
> - Setup the automated download of virus definitions
>   - I recommend no less than once a week, and once a day if possible.
>
>   I am receiving several hundred virus postings a week to the different
>   mailing lists, my personal mail and people trying to figure out what
>   can be done about the current virus issues. This does not include the
>   mailing lists that I do not maintain, nor the issues that other
>   individuals are having to deal with. The current outbreak is very
>   annoying to try to track back to any particular individual in most
>   cases because of how it forges the headers.
>
>   Normally virii are not a big deal since the outbreaks only last a few
>   days, in this partiuclar case we've had an outbreak going on for 3
weeks.
>   Because of this, I decided it best to send a remdinder about where to
>   get the more peopular virus software from. You can read moe about the
>   particular strain at that is driving us all crazy at:
>
> http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.klez.h@mm.html
>
>   which includes a removal tool and instrucations on how to remove it
>   manually. McAfee has similar information on their website as well.
>
> ----
> Anti-Virus vendors:
>
> http://www.mcafee.com
(http://www.mcafee.com/centers/anti-virus/)
> http://www.symantec.com             (http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/)
> http://www.f-secure.com             (http://www.f-secure.com/virus-info/)
> http://www.windriver.com/virus/index.htm
>
>
> A good "how-to" for safe email practices:
>
> http://ntbugtraq.ntadvice.com/safemail.asp
> -----
>
>   Remember if you get an attachment or weblink from someone that you
>   are not suspecting, do not open it. Verify what the person sent you
>   was meant for you and what the content is before opening it.
>
>   I hope this information has been useful to you and you will use it
>   wisely.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> --
> Phelim "Pug" Gervase   | "I want to be called. COTTONTIPS. There is
something
> Bryn Gwlad - Ansteorra |  graceful about that lady. A young woman bursting
with
> Dark Horde Moritu      |  vigor. She blinked at the sudden light. She
writes
> pug at pug.net            |  beautiful poems. When ever shall we meet again?"
>   Note: The views do not reflect the SCA nor the Kingdom of Ansteorra.
> _______________________________________________
> Ansteorra-Announce mailing list
> Ansteorra-Announce at ansteorra.org
> http://www.ansteorra.org/mailman/listinfo/ansteorra-announce