VIRUSES CONTINUE TO INFECT SYSTEMS, LEAVING COMPUTERS DESPERATE TO BE ... BUG-PROOF

When Rex Rust started his computer Oct. 12, he got a message from a friend in Virginia. The e-mail's subject line was "OFUFYU."

"It probably should have sent me some type of signal that the subject of the e-mail file was bizarre," said Rust, the vice president of Rust Communications. "But so is my friend."

So he opened it.

Nothing was there, but "I could hear my computer running," Rust said. "It was clicking along," like it was busy doing something.

It was. It was sending out copies of OFUFYU to everyone in his Microsoft Outlook address book. Within three minutes, Rust got a phone call from someone asking about the six messages they'd just received from him.

The Love Bug had just struck again.

Lots of infections

OFUFYU was just a variation on the ILOVEYOU virus that swept computers earlier this year. While that virus has been out of the headlines lately, it is still around, and infection by viruses may be more common than you think.

According to Woody Mosqueda of McAfee, an Internet security Web site, almost a quarter of the 327,596 computers the company scanned in a recent 30-day period were infected.

The chances of files being infected are pretty small -- about 1 in 1,000, Mosqueda said, but the average computer has hundreds or even thousands of files on it, so the chances of the computer being infected are much greater.

Out of almost 90 million computer files the company scanned, 4 percent were infected with the ILOVEYOU virus.

Clas Computers in Cape Girardeau has seen a lot of viruses as an Internet provider, according to owner Gene Magnus. During the first full weekend of operation at the end of October, Clas screened out 70 viruses in the incoming and outgoing e-mails of its customers.

True, that's 70 e-mails on a system that handles 1,500 to 3,000 e-mails an hour, Magnus said, but "that's like sneezing with the flu in a room full of people. Everyone has the potential to get it."

Species of virus

There are more than 50,000 computer viruses, with more being found all the time. Locally, someone of the more common infections include Happy99, ILOVEYOU, a network VBS virus and the Kak.worm.

In keeping with the virus metaphor, some are no worse than a cold.

The common cold version is Happy99. Happy99 makes "sparkly stuff" on the screen and plays music, Magnus said, and is more annoying than anything else.

Others are the flu. The VBS virus can slow down a network or even bring it to a halt. The Kak.worm infects Microsoft Outlook Express documents. Its effect, called the payload, is "nondescript," said George Florian of Automation Services in Cape Girardeau, but it can be found everywhere.

Others are Ebola.

"There are a couple out there," Florian said, "but they're very rare. Because they're more complex, they're harder to spread."

The incidence of viral infection has been growing over the past few years.

"Three or four years ago, if we saw a virus once every six months, it was kind of like a big deal," said Mike Buchanan, also of Automation Services. "But now, it's routine. We run into it once a week, at least."

While there are more viruses now, they are no better written than they used to be, Florian said. One thing that has changed, he said, is the "social engineering" around them.

The success of the ILOVEYOU virus was not because of skillful programming, but because people who wanted to find out who loved them.

It's all a matter of packaging.

Vaccination

Protecting computers is pretty simple.

One, use anti-virus software. Update the software at least every two weeks, but every week is "a very good thing," Magnus said.

Buchanan said a business client of Automated Services in Caruthersville, Mo., didn't have the latest update, so a virus it inadvertently received from its parent company went undetected until the virus "brought the server to its knees" and the company to a halt. It took Automated a few days to clean the virus out.

Two, make backups of your files.

Three, don't open strange e-mails.

"One of the things we tell our customers," Florian said, "if we receive a file from somebody and you don't know why, don't open it. It doesn't matter anymore if you know the individual. ... Take the time to contact that person."

One dark shadow on the horizon is the advent of the full-time Internet access on a widespread basis.

"Right now, at least in Southeast Missouri, it's mostly businesses that have dedicated connections," Buchanan said. "But with cable modems and DSL, you're going to have a lot of individuals. I have a lot of concerns."

The concern is one about kind of harmful programming called the Trojan horse. It's a program that masquerades as something else -- an e-mail, a screensaver, and so on. Trojan horses have been used to open back doors for hackers to enter and take over someone's computer, steal their passwords.

Couple that with Internet banking.

"I don't even think we've seen the tip of the iceberg on some of that stuff," Buchanan said.

SAFE COMPUTING

Some tips for protecting yourself from computer viruses, worms and Trojan horses:

* Don't open e-mail attachments from unknown, suspicious or untrustworthy sources.

* Don't open attachments unless you already know what it is.

* Don't open attachments if the subject line is questionable or unexpected.

* Don't download any files from strangers.

* Use caution downloading from the Internet.

* Update your anti-virus software regularly. More than 200 new viruses are discovered every month.

* Regularly make back-ups of your files.

* When in doubt, err on the side of caution.

Source: www.mcafee.com