A Bad Virus On The Loose!!!

[stickman]

There is a new virus out on the internet this week affecting computers running Windows 2000 / Windows XP. It is the W32.Blaster.Worm or W32.Blaster.B.Worm. This sneaky bad boy silently invades your computer and causes your computer to shut down on its own when you connect to the internet. The virus installs a file named MSBLAST.EXE which is the culprit of this nuisance. Unless you have religiously installed Microsoft Windows Updates from Microsoft or have up-to-date virus definitions in your antivirus software, you're probably gonna get infested pretty quick! I had to go eradicate this pesky varmint from 2 computers here in Marengo County just yesterday! According to news reports, more than 1 million computer users were affected yesterday. Some businesses had to shut their whole computer systems down because of this pesky critter. Home users will be the ones mainly affected because they don't know to download the Microsoft Windows Updates regularly and most often do not update virus definitions regularly. Users of older versions of Windows (Windows 95/98/ME) do not appear to be affected at this point.


Good news is....if you're infected, there's a simple (and FREE) fix. You can find it on the following links:

Symantec Blaster Worm Removal Tool Info Page (http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.blaster.worm.removal.tool.html)

Direct download for the Fix. 140k FixBlast.exe (http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/FixBlast.exe)



McAfee had no link on their website for this virus. The link to Symantec has a program to download to remove the virus from the computer. This fix, once the virus has been removed, provides you a link to Microsoft to get the patch to fix the security problem in Windows. It is really easy to use provided you can stay on the internet long enough to download them with your computer. If not, go to another computer that is not affected and download it from there. The fix is free from Symantec.

If you have not already done so, update your antivirus software now and check for any Windows Critical Updates at windowsupdate.microsoft.com


Stickman

Edited by: Brian

[Brian]

I've already had quite a few encounters with it. The best thing you can do is get the symantec fix and run it. Stuff like this is why I STRONGLY recommend getting a hardware router/firewall for anyone who uses a highspeed connection.

Unfortunately, This doesn't really solve matters for most dial-up users. Their best defense is get the patches quickly and update their Virus Scan software.

[Jeff]

yep...that little bug caused quite a bit of delays for the University of Alabama as well. Just about got the entire network on campus including financial aid as well as student recievables

[stickman]

This virus is also able to penetrate firewalls.

Stickman

[Brian]

Originally posted by stickman
This virus is also able to penetrate firewalls.

Stickman


Actually, It can't. It works off of a flaw in windows 2000 and XP based OS's by going thru a TCP port. A firewall would naturally block this port and prevent any such attack.

[Scott]

it got me too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dave]

What did itell you about those dirty porn sites Scott!!

[Scott]

LMAO I learned from the best DAVE!!! Read somewhere that it hit those with highspeed connections the hardest but oh wait you wouldnt know anything about highspeed internet there in big gallion would ya.....j/k

[dave]

What do you mean? I'm blazing at 26.4 k/sec. :)

Ole Dave is fixin to move to the big town of Demp. A DSL account has my name on it at Bell South.

[Jeff]

man I don't even no what to do now that I have some Comcast cable modem. Got it hooked up just the other day......and the first time I saw it downloading at over 200kb/sec a tear almost came to my eye :)

[Rootsandwings]

Thanks for the info on how to fix it. I got hit Tuesday night/Wednesday morning and was out of town the rest of the week. When I got back on Friday night, I realized that it was.

[stickman]

You're welcome HometownGal! As for Scott Fendley and his comment about Gallion / Providence not having high speed internet, I guess you can knock on brother Dave, but you can't knock on all of us. Some DO have Direcway Satellite Internet! If God can pipe us sunshine, Direcway can pump us high speed internet (at least something faster than dial-up)!


Stickman

[dave]

If anyone is having any problems PC wise, they should come here for help. You have the most computer literate folks around hitting this page on a daily basis, not to mention 2 of the admins make their living keeping computers running smooth.

[Rootsandwings]

I tried the first link you have above - it let me download that file then it prompted me to go to Microsoft and get that patch to fix it. The problem is the blaster won't let me stay connected long enought to get the patch from Microsoft. Any suggestions?

[Brian]

Run the Norton Fix as soon as you boot up. It should allow you to download the patch without being shut down.