Anybody else caught that virus?

[shunter917]

McAfee has a free utility called Stinger that will scan for Blaster and the 2 variants (Nachi and Welchia) and remove them, if present. Symantec newest virus defs will catch it, but not remove it.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE - if you have DSL or cable - run a firewall. ZoneAlarm is a great one. If you connect multiple computers to the Internet, you can buy a router with a built in firewall (Linksys has a great one) to plug them all into (and your broadband connection goes into the router).

Also patch, patch, patch. This worm just has devasted businesses everywhere because it is specifically targeting desktop machines.

And please remind me - we are giving our money to Bill Gates because . . .?

The BEST thing is to run Linux on the desktop, NetWare and/or Linux/Unix on the server and Corel and/or Star Office as a productivity suite. Ah, but then we wouldn't be like everyone else!

Shunter, do you know where to go on the McAfee site to get to Stinger. I checked out the site, and the only virus removal tools I found were for Lovesan, Klez, and Bugbear.

Thanks

Teressa

Gypsy, you can go to www.norton.com and download a whole bunch of virus removal tools. Hope this helps.

[shunter917]

Here is the link to Stinger:

http://vil.nai.com/vil/averttools.asp

If the link doesn't work, go to http://www.nai.com

Select the Security HQ link in the left hand frame, then select Tools and then Removers.

Beware of Norton's Fixblaster tool - it doesn't work. I can say that from personal experience.

Shunter's right. Just loaded ZoneAlarm off my Verizon DSL. Really like what I see.

I've been using Zonealarm for years now, never failed me once. I back it by using Neotrace Pro on the actually rare occation I actually get a hard hit from someone, and actually bother to check and notice it to notify their system administrator of their actions........It's amazing at how many port scanners and such are out there, but Zonealarm's ALWAYS kept me safe from such activities...........

[glow=red,2,300]Happytrails............[/glow]

[B_and_D]

I am very interested in learning more about Linux..

Also just purchased a router & new computer for the teenage daughter, finally got her out of our office and onto her own computer (whew), says it has a built in firewall, it's a Belkin. Now we have multiple glowing objects under the computer desk. Must do wonders for the PG&E bill...

Are those Belkin router firewalls any good?

I hope so, ran the MS firewall all the time and it didn't help at all.

From what I understand, *any* hardware firewall is going to be better than a software one, due to how they handle things. I could be wrong tho, but I've never had any problems running my software firewall........

[glow=red,2,300]Happytrails........[/glow]

[shunter917]

You're right, Happy, hardware firewalls are better, but a softwall firewall is better than nothing.

I'm not familiar with Belkin's firewall approach, but they have really good cable, connectors, hubs, routers, etc., so my guess is that they're pretty good to have.

[kdrickard]

[quote author=B_and_D link=board=18;threadid=1181;start=msg8711#msg8711 date=1062484035]
Are those Belkin router firewalls any good?
[/quote]

A good way to find out is to hit the www.grc.com website and run the "Shields Up" program. If you get the "Stealth" result for all ports you are in good shape for a residential Internet connection. Most residential cable/DSL routers should do this.

Hardware firewalls are great, but a good one will cost more than most home users are willing to put out, and the configuration details will cause the eyes of most to glaze over instantly (or turn you to stone ala Medusa). As mentioned by many, ZoneAlarm is a great residential firewall. At minimum you can turn it on from time to time and see what on your computer is trying to access the Internet without your knowledge. Best to keep it on all the time and go through the not too difficult learning curve of figuring out how to turn things on and off.

My two cents /rant off

Kevin