SoBig Virus Removal Information

Site Admin Joined: 17 May 2003 Posts: 0

A lot of you have been asking about the SoBig virus and how to find out if you have it. Before we get into that I just found out that this virus is now the biggest one of all time. That is something that really sucks as other cool website servers are getting slammed as well (Penny Arcade, HardOCP). Remember that unless you open the attached file you are not infected just by previewing it. I personally use Outlook Express 6 and have it set to preview emails before opening them. You can also set OE to not open attachment that could contain viruses. Remember though if you do use this feature you will have to turn it off for legitimate files i.e. pictures and such.

The best way to check and see if you are infected is to do a fresh reboot. After you have rebooted your computer and the hour glass (working signal) is gone I want you to press CTRL-ALT-DEL once. This will bring up your task manager. What you want to look for is a small program called WINPPR32.EXE. If you see this program running I want you to download this virus removal program to get rid of it. It is a free download and doesn't install anything on your computer. After it removes it reboot your computer and you are all set.

For those of you that know your computers well make sure to tell your non-hardware friends and family not to open email attachment that personally don't have your personal name in the text body. Even if it is your addy it can be spoofed pretty easy. Knowledge is key, so make sure you share it!

Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2003 4:22 pm

I've got a couple suggestions that might also help our fellow fanboys stay away from this and other virii that like to spread themselves like wildfire.

1) Use something other than Outlook and Outlook Express - Ok ok ok, I know, a lot of people are addicted to their clients, and rightfully so. However, for security purposes, it's always wise to use something that doesn't integrate so deeply with your operating system, and also something that isn't exactly the "common program", cause common programs are like cheese to a rat. Ever notice that atleast 40% of the virii out there right now are macro virus's designed specifically for these mail clients? If their targetting them with those, they'll prolly start hitting them with more devilish ways as those clients become more secure from macro attacks. So it's wise to just avoid the main stream, and think different... (eesh, ok, that's not a mac parody or anything, just sounded good) My personal suggestions would lie in Courier and Eudora

2) Turn off HTML Previews! - That's right, I know people now a days seem to like the whole "stationary" thing, but get rid of that crap! HTML in E-mails is the single easiest way for someone to force your computer to execute a piece of malicious code they've attached in an email. This ia a HUGE security hole, and something that really shouldn't be done. Plain text is how email started, and it's how it should remain. (Please note that some email clients, like Courier, allow for 1 button switching between HTML view and plain text, this is useful for those you want to view in HTML.)

3) Keep your virus defs up to date. - This is kinda a no-brainer, but still, if you use anti-viral software, you should atleast keep the definitions up to date. Most servers don't mind you checking everyday, and I'd recommend just that. Virii come out like hotcakes, and virus software engineers work like code monkeys to get the information out on how to deal with the latest batch of virii. Definately worth your time to keep your software up to date.

4) UPDATE EVERYTHING! - yeah, big one here... Make sure you keep your software running at the most recent version! (unless there is some majorly reported bug in it) Otherwise you might find yourself vulnerable to a 6-month old virus that just so happens to get thru a backdoor left by your flawed copy of windows. (Not that there is a good copy, but I digress)

5) When all else fails, install a different OS - Yup, that's right, 99% (prolly more like 99.9%) of all virii out there are for.... you guessed it, Windows. Problem of course is, most games are written for windows too, so ya get a lot of people doing what I like to call "XBOX Installs", which basically means they boot windows just to play games, and do everything else in another operating system. Basically if you have a PC, you have 1 free alternative, and that's a *nix option. Either Linux, FreeBSD, or some other unix-based alternative. Seriously though, before you dismiss this, give them a second look, check out places like Ximian and see their product spread. Hell, UT2k3 (and many others) run natively in Linux these days, so why not give it a shot? Linux has come a long way from the old days of hacking your computer just to get it to boot. Might be worth your time. (And btw: dual-boot systems are very very easy to maintain)

Welp, there ya have it, Peoii's 5 tips on secureing yourself from virii. Might be a tad overkill in a some places, but their all atleast sound advice.

Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2003 1:49 am

Hey, Peoii, what do you think of Eudora Lite?
It says it doesn't have Ads like the normal free version, but I was wondering if it is "too" stripped down to be of good use.

(I currently use OE6 for one of my accounts. I mainly send and recieve email and read a couple newsgroups, so it doesn't need to do anything fancy I suppose)

Also, I am looking for something that doesn't use much memory Smile

Thanks for any info!

Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2003 6:28 am

Eudora lite is pretty good overall, also, I forgot to mention one of my personal favorite email clients, Calypso which happens to be completely free! And supports a TON of options (I leave it's now big brother, courier, running in the background all the time on my windows boxes, and it's negalible as far as memory usage, IE: under 2 megs Wink

) including multiple account support, and the like.

Definately worth checking out if you want a more "feature rich" client.

Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2003 7:29 am

Is Calypso ad supported?

Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2003 9:38 am

Very good post Peoii. I learned a couple of things. I do want to get weened off of OE, but I do not like Eudora. Of the other two clients you provided, which one is more user friendly? Which one will let me move my OE messages? I should just go try them both out, but I am a very lazy man.

Thank you,

Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2003 11:36 am

no wonder you diddnt want me to use the "lazy" anymore Razz

Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2003 5:05 pm

To post for both....

Neither Calypso nor Courier is ad supported at all, infact, Calypso used to be a payed product until MCS gave up on it (worst mistake they made I believe), and now it's completely freeware. Courier picks up where it left off, and is attempting to expand it further, so there is indeed a charge for it.... but not to bad of one.

Yes, Courier and Calypo allow importing from OE, as well as Netscape and Eudora (courier adds the option to import from an OE .eml file as well)

Glad I was able to help someone Wink

I thought I'd be flamed for that stuff....

Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2003 5:50 pm

Just forgot about one more email client thats completely free, and for a 0.1 release, is completely AWESOME!

Thunderbird, the mail component of what is now a suite consisting of Thunderbird and Firebird, is a great mail client that does allow importing from both Outlook and OE. Sure, it might be in 0.1, but that's only the interface really, the engine behind it is solid, and it's a very impressive client already.

Best part about it is, it's MUTLI PLATFORM! That's right, you can use it on Windows, Linux, and even MacOSX! So you've got a huge community of support behind it.

Again, no ads. (I'm very anti-adware)

Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2003 6:24 pm

WIerd, that Courier site said the full version is ad-supported until you pay for it. They went on to say the Lite version has no ads, but has a big sponsor pic on it instead.

Now I'm confused

Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2003 6:52 pm

use Opera... cool proggy

Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2003 6:41 am

Courier? You sure you clicked on the right one? I don't think there is a lite version of Courier Razz

(and there were no sponsor pics on the courier site that I saw)

Maybe you clicked on the Eudora link?

Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2003 6:45 am

My only major problem with Opera is their rather "fake" support of other operateing systems..... They offer builds for Linux, Mac, etc, but their not nearly as easily supported as say, the Windows build. That, and I dislike their interface, I think it's got a lot of fluff, and not enough "umph".

Personal opinion though, and that's why I didn't list it Wink

Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2003 9:59 am

BTW I used Opera, until recently, with my computer (WINXP) and I liked it a lot. Next time I reformat I may install it again. It just got real buggy the last time I installed it.

Peoii u did not say which alternative mail client a lazy man like me should try out first. Remember I do not like Eurdora.

Thanx

Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2003 1:41 pm

I hear many say that it was buggy but it only crashed once or twice with me for a few months and I think that wasn't all Opera. I used a skin for Opera and it worked... animated and stuff