MikesWhatsNews, 17, 10, 2002 in today's issue #575 The "Netdex" Backdoor Trojan Wants In Serpentine v1.0 Iomega Windows XP Moving Tool Get Ready for MSN 8 MailWasher Version: 2.0 beta Safety Tips from the Mouse OpenExpert 1.30 CCC StartStop Ctrl to Select Most but not all ____________________________________________________________ NOTE: Any time you see the " ++ ", it means there is more of the article, or story, on the linked site. Mike ____________________________________________________________ There is a complete archive of past MikesWhatsNews newsletters available to members on the Yahoo page, it is searchable by word or issue #. Here is the address direct to the messages; http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MikesWhatsNews/messages and; //www.freelists.org/archives/mikeswhatsnews/ ____________________________________________________________ The "Netdex" Backdoor Trojan Wants In http://www.viruslist.com/eng/index.html Kaspersky Labs recommends computer users urgently install patch to defend against "Netdex". Kaspersky Labs reports the detection of the Trojan horse "Netdex", which exploits a vulnerability in the security system of the Microsoft Virtual Machine. Doing this allows the "Trojan" to clandestinely infect computers with malicious code and run it. An analysis of the program shows that, most likely, it is of Russian origin. In particular the program has some text written in the Russian language and a link to a domain from a Russian zone. At this time, Kaspersky Labs has received only a few confirmed infections at the hands of "Netdex" and has already undertaken the necessary measures to thwart it spreading into a global outbreak. "Netdex" is a complex multi-component malicious program that penetrates computers of those users who are visiting an infected Web site. Using a vulnerability in the Microsoft Virtual Machine security system ("Microsoft VM ActiveX Component" Vulnerability), the Web site infects victim computers with a malicious script program that drops the "Netdex" main components. These components, in turn, install on victim computers a backdoor Trojan program (a utility designed for unauthorized remote administration), which permits an ill-intended intruder to imperceptibly control infected systems and perform such functions as the creation, deletion and copying of files, sending of emails, displaying of system messages on the monitor and so on. The specific backdoor commands to be executed by "Netdex" are loaded from the same Web site. Kaspersky Labs has taken the necessary steps to close the malicious Web site, and in doing so, has liquidated "Netdex's" main breeding ground for infection. However, this does not mean that computers, lacking the patch fixing the Microsoft Virtual Machine vulnerability, face no threat. "Firstly, the malefactors behind "Netdex" can simply open another similar site or sites, thanks to many locations for hosting anonymously authored Web pages. Secondly, the damaging script program from the infected web site may be sent out via email. Finally, "Netdex" has the ability to update itself, therefore the author of the Trojan program can redirect already infected computers by executing commands from a different Web site", commented Eugene Kaspersky, Head of Anti-Virus Research at Kaspersky Labs. Users of Internet Explorer versions 3.0 - 5.5 are recommended to install the patch for the Windows security system, it can be found at the Microsoft Web site at: <http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/security/ bulletin/MS00-075.asp> All defenses protecting against "Netdex" have already been added to the Kaspersky Anti-Virus databases. For more detailed information about this malicious program, please visit the Kaspersky Virus Encyclopedia at: http://www.viruslist.com/eng/viruslist.html?id=57335 From; Kaspersky Labs News ____________________________________________________________ Serpentine v1.0 ~ free http://www.omninet.net.au/~irhumph/products.htm Win9x/Mill/Win2k/XP Serpentine is a completely re-written version of the original Broderbund game which appeared on the Apple II and Atari machines of the early 1980s. You guide your snake around a labyrinth, eating the evil serpents which try to eat you. Beware! The serpents start laying eggs which hatch and become more serpents. Eat a serpent egg and then lay your own egg. The level ends when you have eaten all the evil serpents. If at the end of the level you have laid an egg which has not been eaten, this will hatch and give you an extra life. Look out for the frog which also likes to eat eggs! There are 75 tantalizing levels to conquer, and you can save your game at any stage and load a saved game. When you have conquered all the levels provided, you can go into the Level Designer and design your own! There is also a separate application supplied called Level Organizer which helps you arrange your levels in order of difficulty from easiest to hardest. A really comprehensive and well-presented package to provide hours of challenging fun! ____________________________________________________________ Iomega Windows XP Moving Tool <http://www.iomega.com/datahandler/servlet/dataprocess/driverlist?database=st eerdown> Description: The Active Disk Powered Windows XP Moving Tool helps you move your important files and settings from an older system to a new Windows XP system in as few as two steps. Installation: Once you have downloaded the software, double click the file to extract and launch the installation. Active Disk Powered XP Moving Tool ~ Version: 1.0 File Size: 3.85MB Platform:95 98 Me NT 4.0 SP3 XP 2000 System Requirements: Windows 95, 98, Me, NT 4.0 SP3, 2000, or XP. Windows XP installation CD and an Iomega Zip, or HDD drive. License: Shareware Full Description: The Active Disk Powered Windows XP Moving Tool helps you move all of your digital music, images, video, email and other files as well key Internet, network, desktop and other system settings from an older system to a new Windows XP system in as few as two steps. Installation: Once you have downloaded the software, double click the file to extract and launch the installation. ++ ____________________________________________________________ Get Ready for MSN 8 Prepare yourself for the online event of the year: the launch of the new MSN(R) 8 Internet Service on October 24. Visit the MSN 8 preview site to learn about the powerful new features and to get a sneak peek with an exclusive tour. You'll learn why one reviewer calls it "the best version of MSN I've seen" and another says "MSN beats AOL for ease of use and functionality." http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=10298 ____________________________________________________________ Safety Tips from the Mouse For sensible Internet safety advice that applies to kids and adults, refer to Disney's Safety Tips [ http://disney.go.com/legal/Internet_safety.html ]. After you've got your family on board with these pointers on safety and privacy, check out some of the recommended sites at the bottom of the page for kid-friendly surfing. ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ MailWasher Version: 2.0 beta http://www.mailwasher.net/download.php MailWasher is under constant development with many enhancements, and support for new protocols and software in the pipeline. Because of this it is impractical to fully test MailWasher over all situations every time we finish a new set of features, so the latest version with the latest improvements will be available for download as a beta version. An older version that has already shown itself to be reliable can be downloaded as the latest stable release. The beta version normally writes more detailed log files to its directory, this is useful if you encounter any problems with it as we can more easily solve them if you can send us detailed logs. Here is a good configuration page; <http://www.it-reality.co.uk/SoftwareReviews/MailWasher/MailWasher2.htm> Submitted by: AJ (appeljon1) ~ COMPUTER HELP-ONLINE - A Technical Support Alliance Member http://groups.yahoo.com/group/computerhelponline/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- Latest Beta Version: 2.0 beta ____________________________________________________________ OpenExpert 1.30 ~ free http://www.baxbex.com/products.html Win 9X / ME / 2000 / XP Open With submenu for explorer's menu Simply install our freeware OpenExpert and you will be able to configure every single existing filetype with its own "open with..." submenu extension. Now you can quickly and simply choose which application you want to open that particular file. Right click the mouse and select the program to open the file. That's all there is to it! OpenExpert is free for use at home! ____________________________________________________________ Christies Computer Corner thanks to Christy; <1stPicksoftware-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=subscribe> StartStop http://www.tfi-technology.com/startstop/default.htm Freware Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, and 2000 Tired of waiting for your computer to start? When Windows is starting it can load many programs that you might not need. Some of these are not even visible to you and just work in the background even if you don't need them. StartStop lets you control which programs will start and change your configuration each time your computer boots. With StartStop you can stop programs being run or get StartStop to ask you if a particular program should be loaded. Each time your computer starts you get the option to change your current settings or just let StartStop apply your default preferences. ~~~~~~~ Ctrl to Select Most but not all Hold down the Ctrl key as you click each item with the mouse. If you need to select most items in a window but not all, there's an even faster way than clicking them one at a time. Hold down the Ctrl key as you select the ones you DON'T want, then select Edit, Invert Selection. Was this forwarded to you ? Get your own subscription here: <1stpickPCtips-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=subscribe> ____________________________________________________________ Antivirus software is a good choice to scan your system for possible viruses, however no virus scanner is 100% effective as manufactures cannot keep up with the rapid change of viruses that happens daily. Be sure to update yours regularly. http://www.hackfix.org/software/antivirus.html ______________________________________________________________________ Please feel free, to offer constructive criticism, as that will help me keep it interesting. I also welcome any submissions about new products, web pages, or articles of interest. All submissions posted in MWN will be given proper credit. "MikesWhatsNews" believes in giving credit where credit is due but at times deadlines and information that is very important to readers we accidentally misspost an item. If you believe something to be miscredited, or you know the author of one of the articles which we have posted as 'unknown', please do let us know so we can correct the information where applicable. Many times in a article you may see a click here for more information, or to go to a link, these often will not work, as the original information, was taken from a page with HTML links. This is when you will want to go to the webpage indicated in the article, ++ ,for 'the rest of the story' ***MfM*** indicates that I am adding my own information to a particular article. `~*~*~*~*~*~` Mike ~It's a good day if I learned something new. You can read a sample of my newsletter on my web page http://www.mwn.ca My virus pages ~ http://virusinfo.hackfix.org mytech@xxxxxxxxxxx ~*~*~*~*~ Was this forwarded to you? Want to subscribe? Send an email to mikeswhatsnews-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=subscribe. For a complete list of email commands for our list send an email to ecartis@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with a subject line of "info mikeswhatsnews" without the quotes. If you wish to unsubscribe from our list send an email to mikeswhatsnews-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=unsubscribe To contact the list moderators send an email to mikeswhatsnews-moderators@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ~*~*~*~*~