Beware The Bugbear
Theres a nasty new e-mail worm (a kind of virus) thats running around attacking computer users firewalls and antivirus programsthe very things we count on to protect us from cyber mischief, or worse.
Known as W32/Bugbear, the worm stops antivirus systems and firewalls from running and leaves the computer defenseless against other malicious code, says Panda Softwares Virus Laboratory, based in Los Angeles.
"W32Bugbear reaches computers in an e-mail message [that] is very difficult to recognize," says Panda. "Bugbear randomly makes up the subject, contents and the name of the attached file. Cleverly disguising itself, it is hard for computer users to detect the worm, making computers easy targets for infection."
If you find your virus protection or firewall program not working, or trying unsuccessfully to reinstall itself, contact the vendor to see whether that company has a solution available online. At the same time, update your virus software (and keep updating it, at least once a week). Information is available at www.pandasecurity.com.
As a last resort, you may have to use your computers recovery disksreinstalling the programs that are already there. If youre not comfortable doing this, however, dont hesitate to contact a professional.
Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, October 21, 2002. Copyright 2002 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.
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