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To: Thomas Kirwin who wrote (7835)	4/24/1999 9:07:00 AM
From: df	Respond to of 17679

Morn'n all.... Promised I wouldn't open this box until Monday AM, but the "jones" got me (S). Just do'n a POI (point of information).... Really, be aware.... Enjoy the weekend ! The week's top IT stories -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Warning Issued Regarding Chernobyl Anniversary Virus Sophos, the anti-virus and security company, has issued a warning about a dangerous new virus that triggers on Apr. 26 to apparently "celebrate" the 13th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident. The virus, called Network Nuke, will automatically trash a user's PC hard disk, Sophos said. According to company officials, the virus, which was first identified last summer and is also known as the CIH virus, has dominated the firm's "top 10" virus table. When Network Nuke is triggered on Apr. 26, it starts its campaign of terror by wiping out the user's hard disk. Then it overwrites the re-writable elements of the PC's BIOS chipset, making the infected PC unusable in the process. Paul Ducklin, the head of research at Sophos, said that the hardware-attacking payload of CIH ranks it at the top of the nastiness scale. "Hopefully, this will focus the attention of users and administrators on the fact that the best form of defence against viruses is not to get infected in the first place. Anyone without preventative measures in place should act at once," he said. To inform PC users, Sophos has published a booklet called "The Inside Track on CIH," which is available on request as well as via the firm's Web site. Sophos has also prepared a list of frequently asked questions about the CIH virus, which is detailed below. Q: What is CIH? A: CIH is a family of computer viruses which infect Windows 95/98 programs. If you run an infected program on your computer, the virus will become active and begin to copy itself into other programs (.EXE files) on your system. The virus usually replicates very quickly, so you will probably soon have hundreds of infected files on your computer. Q: How does CIH spread? A: Any program you receive from outside your computer could potentially be infected. Once you are infected, the virus will soon spread throughout your computer, and so the chance of you passing an infected file to someone else is high. Q: How common is it? A: Even though the first reports of CIH appeared only around the middle of 1998, the virus reached the Number Three spot on the Sophos Virus Top Ten for the whole of 1998. It was third in January 1999, and fourth in February 1999. This means it is very common indeed. Q: Why is it so widespread? A: Programs infected with CIH have been seen on a number of cover CDs from reputable magazines, and on a number of reputable Web sites. This has certainly helped the virus achieve wide distribution. Q: What does CIH do? A: Normally, CIH simply spreads itself. But on certain trigger dates, it detonates its warhead. The warhead wipes out your hard disk, and then tries to overwrite the computers BIOS chip. Once the BIOS is overwritten, you will be unable to use your computer at all. Repair involves physically removing the BIOS chip and replacing it with a fresh one. On some computers, the BIOS chip is not removable, so it can only be replaced by swapping the entire motherboard. Q: What are the trigger dates? A: There are several variants of CIH, with different trigger conditions. The best known, and most widespread, variant will detonate on Apr. 26. Other variants detonate on June 26, or even on the 26th of any month. Q: Which operating systems are vulnerable? A: CIH spreads under Windows 95 and Windows 98. DOS and Windows 3.x cannot spread CIH because they cannot run Windows 95/98 programs. Windows NT cannot spread CIH because the virus uses programming tricks that do not work under NT. The virus can infect Windows NT programs, but such programs will no longer run, and will therefore not be infectious themselves . Q: How can I prevent it? A: Use reputable anti-virus software which can accurately identify CIH. Use the preventative component of your anti-virus software, not just the component that can detect viruses. For Sophos Anti-Virus, this means you should make sure you are using InterCheck (which will actively prevent viruses, including CIH) on all your computers. Your goal is not just to avoid having your computer damaged by CIH on 26 April, but to avoid being infected at all—by CIH or any other virus. More information Sophos -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ©Powermark plc 1998. Portions copyright Newsbytes. All rights reserved. Powermark is an authorised republisher of Newsbytes. Registered trademarks and tradenames are the property of their respective owners.