McAfee has info on a recent trojan called "Backdoor". This virus is similar to NetBus in operation, but is far more invasive, and can be more dangerous. Chances are, though, that you won't be infected by this. It's a quite rare one.
McAfee also has info on a rather amusing new email virus. This virus comes disguised as a patch or game demo (among other things). The attatched file is 150KB.
Another McAfee report describes a VBScript virus that infects outgoing Outlok Express emails and HTML files and templates on servers to further propogate. It's a viscious little bug that disguises itself pretty well.
Symantec reports a DANGEROUS virus that was discovered TODAY. It's the first boot-sector virus i've seen in a while, but it works very differently: It will KILL your master boot record and will probably make your computer unbootable. READ THIS REPORT and follow all the information on propogation to stop this thread shoud it come.
Symantec is also reporting of another email virus that will open an adult website in the background and a dialer will auto-download from the website. (For those who don't surf for warez: This dialer will dial a long-distance number to access a porn web server, leaving the charges on your phone bill.) As usual, Symantec has recommendations for stopping this threat.
Symantec has also upgraded the Klez virus to a level 4 threat. It's almost 6 months old, but it's still going quite strong. It's an email virus quite similar to one I've been hearing about (but never get infected with) for a long time. I check my email in Linux.
I'm bored with virii already, so WindowsUpdate and M$ Downloads and get those fixes.
The reason I'm posting about virii today is because yesterday I got word of a virus that is very similar to 2 others I have previously reported on and two more I was aware of. My primary recommendations for virus control are: 1) Get anti-virus software from McAfee or Symantec, or any of the othr large AV companies. 2) Do NOT open attatchments of any kind. If you must, then check very carefully to be sure the attatchment is safe for opening. 3) Stop using Outlok Express, and if you can, Stop using Internet Explorer. Many good browsers andmail clients exist such as Opera, Netscape Navigator, and Mozilla, which each include their own good mail clients (and are each cross-platform and standards-compliant). 4) Uninstall all unneeded services and software immediately, if not sooner. 5) Get Ad-Aware and get rid of those damn spyware "products."
Do your part and stop the propogation of trouble at the source!
Oh yeah, Max Headroom is back and LEDs are about to get brighter.
OK, my usual disclaimer:
WARNING: Some of these prices may shock you, leave you breathless, make you sick, get out your wallet, or something else dangerous or drastic in some way. The Junkyard is not responsible for your actions.
| Memory (256MB) | |||
| Type | Price | from last week | Retailer |
| PC-100 | $30 | -$1 | 1st Choice Memory |
| PC-133 | $30 | -$1 | NeutronUSA |
| PC-150 | $44 | -$7 | Edge Micro |
| PC-1600 | $44 | -$3 | 1st Choice Memory |
| PC-2100 | $41 | -$5 | 1st Choice Memory |
| PC-2400 | $57 | -$2 | AIB |
| PC-2700 | $63 | $2 | AIB (might want to check around - the price on this JUMPED since yesterday) |
| PC-3000 | $76 | -$3 | AIB |
| PC-3200 | $85 | -$3 | AIB FASTEST DDR AVAILABLE 400MHz |
| PC-800 RDRAM | $61 | $1 | Digi4Me |
| CPUs | |||
| AMD Athlon XP 2100+ | $214 | -$14 | EconoPC (phone orders only; mention pricewatch) |
| Intel Pentium 4 2.4GHz | $526 | -$14 | Accubyte |
| AMD Duron 1.3GHz | $63 | -$1 | Accubyte |
| Intel Celeron 1.3GHz | $77 | $0 | Compubuzz |
WARNING: chances are, these CPU prices are for the OEM package. That is the CPU only, no instructions, no stock fan/heatsink. No cool box either. Sorry. That's what you get for saving 20-50% on everything ^_^
| 40GB 7200RPM EIDE Hard Disk Drives (4 choice manufacturers) | |||
| Maxtor | $63 | -$1 | House of Computers |
| Seagate | $63 | -$2 | House of Computers |
| IBM | $61 | -$3 | House of Computers |
| Western Digital | $63 | -$3 | AC Micro |
