MacInSchool

Viruses and Bugs

• Kriz virus makes return appearance, ZDNet/Yahoo, 12/20. Virus piggybacks on other viruses, strikes on Dec. 25, wipes hard drive and BIOS on PCs, currently ranked #8 infector by Trend Micro.
• More than 54,000 virus threats exist today, ZDNet Asia, 12/18 [Win98 Central]. And 99.9% of them can't touch the Mac. :-)
• Virus writers send Christmas gifts, Yahoo/Reuters, 12/4. "...the first two Christmas viruses already spreading fast." In the Windows world, of course.
• "Creative" virus spreading quickly, Cnet, 12/1. "The virus, dubbed 'Creative,' carries no destructive payload, but automatically emails itself to a victim's entire email address book." Windows and Outlook Express; user must run file "creative.exe".
• MTX virus won't let you get help, ZDNet, 11/29 [Win98 Central]. "The bug has one very sinister feature: once it infects a user, it's programmed to stop the victim from visiting antivirus Web sites...."
• BleBla inects users upon arrival, ZDNet, 11/17 [Win98 Central]. Code executes upon previewing or reading infected HTML email, can connect to Internet to download payload. Only infects Microsoft Outlook on Windows.
• Is tech-savvy virus dangerous or not?, ZDNet, 11/15 [Win98 Central]. "Called Hybris, the Internet worm is 'perhaps the most complex and refined malicious code in the history of virus writing.'"
• Viruses: The next generation, Kim Zetter, PC World [Win98 Central]. "In 1993, there were 3200 known viruses in the world. Today, there are more than 40,000...." Thanks Jobs for Macs!
• Apology beats LoveLetter in October Virus chart, Computer User, 11/7 [Win98 Central]. Yes, Virginia, they do keep "top virus" charts on the Windows side of the world.
• Sonic.Worm approaching, ZDNet, 11/1 [Win98 Central]. "Sonic.Worm is an email virus that keeps itself up-to-date by downloading enhancements from a web site." Windows only, of course.
• Melissa variant pokes fun at Bill Gates, Infoworld, 8/10. Windows-only virus says Gates guilty of monopoly.
• Viruses: The danger of relevancy, Apple's Orchard. "As the Mac OS continues to gain market share and continues to pop up in the media we will have to deal with more and more Mac viruses."
• Some Macs may be suceptible to virus, MacWEEK, 6/11. Macs sharing files with an infected Windows computer vulnerable to Worm.ExploreZip virus.
• Dangerous email worm crawls net, Wired News, 6/10. "Both Intel and Microsoft closed down large sections of their email networks...."
  Also see Devastating email worm on the loose, ZDNet, 6/11. "You're a target if you use Windows 95, 998, or NT and Microsoft Outlook or Exchange for email." What, no Mac support? ;-)
• CIH 1.2 (Chernobyl) virus set to attack April 26, ZDNet, 4/23
  Find out why Windows 95/98 users are in a panic today -- and be grateful you don't have to worry about it if you're using the Mac OS, Linux, or some other "minority" OS.
• New Windows 95/98 email virus, boa.exe, ZDNet, 4/9
  "It's nowhere near as annoying - or potentially damaging -- as the Melissa virus...."
• Everyone's talking about Melissa, Macinsite, 3/29
  Melissa can't infect Macs, but could send you spam.
• "Melissa" email virus outbreak, MacTimes, 3/27
  "If that document is opened and the [Word] macro virus is allowed to run, it is possible for it to send e-mail to a number of other users."
• HAPPY99.EXE infects Win 95, Win 98, Symantec (thanks, Scambusters)
• Alarm over new "smart" virus (Windows NT only), ZDNet, 12/21
• HTML.Internal limited to Internet Explorer, TechWeb
• Cnet's Bugs upon bugs page tracks security holes. Currently, 4 of 5 bugs listed are in Microsoft products.
• CIH virus infects thousands of [Win95/98] users, ZDNN, "This bug kills computers dead."
• Security flaw in Outlook Express, MacWEEK
• CIH virus attacks Win95/98 computers, University of Texas at Austin