New Internet Worm - W32/Swen@MM

A new email virus may be the one of the most intelligent worms seen thus far on the Internet. The new worm supposedly started in Europe and spread to the United States in only a matter of days. W32/Swen@MM spreads primarily by email, exploiting a known vulnerability in the way Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express deal with Mime headers. Various sources (Symantec, TrendMicro, and Mcafee) have also reported that the worm spreads though windows file sharing networks, Peer 2 Peer networks like Kazaa and Gnutella, and through instant messaging networks such as AOL Instant Messenger.

Your computer will be a lot less vulnerable if you follow these simple steps (Click the links to receive more information):

1. Firewall – Windows XP comes with one built in (USE IT!), other 3rd party firewall solutions are available for free.

2. Antivirus – Antivirus software is cheap, some free antivirus solution are available.

3. Updates – Make sure your windows desktop operating system is up to date by regularly visiting http://www.windowsupdate.com; remember NEVER to run any programs you receive via email.

4. Common Sense – Perhaps the most important of the four steps, if some one knocked on the door of your home and asked you to inject yourself with a syringe, would you do it? The same rule should apply to running programs on your computer; remember you have no idea what a program will do before you run it. remember just because you think you know where an email has come from doesn’t mean it actually has. When in doubt ask questions.