Glenn this was written by a friend who works for Symantec. Not every worm works like the Klez but you know that already RIGHT. Can it help you to stop a virus NO but it can give you a jumpstart before the timeline triggers the payload. If you deal with viruses like I do everyday than you will have a greater understanding that most users are not even aware of the virus before it's to late.
Even the most savy user can get infected Remember CODE RED!!!! How about the opiserv, nimda. Most people hop on the web, surf, play with Word and call it a day.
If you are running Linux that's great but it's a windoz world. Buck up and get used to it. Not everyone has the time or understanding to play with a kernel to there liking. Is the internet powered by Linux yes 73% but the users are windows. It is unfortunate that users get infected, we all cann't be perfect with every move on the web.
In closing please read the info from Norton it just cann't hurt.
Messages that claim that you can prevent the spread of email worms and Trojans by adding a special "trick" entry as the first contact in your email address book appear fairly frequently. Among the "names" that they suggest that you add to your address book are:
!0000
AAAAAA
The usual claim is that this will, in one way or another, stop the threat from spreading. While these are in the strictest definition of the word, not hoaxes (although the AAAAA version, with its recommendation to "Pass this on to all your friends" is close), like hoaxes, they should be ignored and not forwarded.
The following are two versions of these email messages, followed by Symantec Security Response recommendations.
The !0000 letter:
Who among us doesn't know someone who has experienced the embarrassment of unknowingly spreading a computer virus via their email address book? It's time to STOP this from happening by TAKING CONTROL of your email program!
For those who are unaware, many computer viruses spread themselves by sending themselves to everyone in your address book. Imagine how you would feel if you were unknowingly infected with a computer virus, and worse yet, your friends, family, and business contacts were being targeted by your computer! Well, if you want to avoid this sort of thing, here's a great tip:
This tip won't prevent YOU from getting any viruses (you have to scan those attachments yourself before opening them to do that), but it will stop those viruses from latching onto your address book and sending itself out to others.
To avoid spreading computer viruses, create a contact in your email address book with the name :
!0000 with no email address in the details.
This contact will then show up as your first contact. If a virus attempts to do a "send all" on your contact list, your pc will put up an error message saying that: "The Message could not be sent. One or more recipients do not have an e-mail address. Please check your Address Book and make sure all the recipients have a valid e-mail address."
You click on OK and the offending (virus) message would not have been sent to anyone. Of course no changes have been made to your original contacts list. The offending (virus) message may then be automatically stored in your "Drafts" or "Outbox" folder. Go in there and delete the offending message. Problem is solved and virus is not spread.
The AAAAA letter:
Subj: Protect your address book
<< Some of you might already know about this but I didn't and we were infected with that worm last week.
I learned a computer trick today that's really ingenious in it simplicity. As you may know, when/if a worm virus gets into your computer it heads straight for your email address book, and sends itself to everyone in there, thus infecting all your friends and associates. This trick won't keep the virus from getting into your computer, but it will stop it from using your address book to spread further, and it will alert you to the fact, that the worm has gotten into your system.
Here's what you do: first, open your address book and click on "new contact" just as you would do if you were adding a new friend to your list of email addresses. In the window where you would type your friend's first name, type in AAAAAAA. In the window below where it prompts you to enter the new email address, type in **REFERENCE REMOVED** . Then complete everything by clicking add, enter, ok, etc.
Now, here's what you've done and why it works: The "name" AAAAAAA will be placed at the top of your address book as entry #1. This will be where the worm will start in an effort to send itself to all your friends. But when it tries to send itself to AAAAAAA, it will be undeliverable because of the phony email address you entered (**REFERENCE REMOVED**). If the first attempt fails (which it will because of the phony address), the worm goes no further and your friends will not be infected.
Here's the second great advantage of this method: If an email cannot be delivered, you will be notified of this in your InBox almost immediately. Hence, if you ever get an email telling you that an email addressed to
[email protected] could not be delivered, you know right away that you have the worm virus in your system. You can then take steps to get rid of it! Pretty neat, huh?
Here's a pic of Linux power
Did Rupley get infected Yes Couldn't happen to a nicer guy LOL did he want to infect everyone else no. He just doesn't have an understanding of a virus or a 2100 for that matter .
