9/11 viruses, VERY DESTRUCTIVE! (instructions included)

Automated PC Solutions

VACM - Virus Alerts for the Common Man

9/11 viruses, VERY DESTRUCTIVE! (instructions included)

Greetings from The VACM Team,

In This Issue:
----------------------
- 9/11 viruses, VERY DESTRUCTIVE! (instructions included)

People wishing to subscribe to the VACM Alerts may do so at:
http://apcsnh.com/vacmsign.htm

BONUS HOW-TO MOVIE!
You have SpyWare on your system! Download our How-To
movie for a simple way of removing SpyWare from your PC (see
the "Tip Of The Day" section below for the download link).

***************************************************
* The Bottom Line...
***************************************************
Two new 9/11 related viruses have been released into the wild
in the past several hours today (9/11/02)-

VBS/Nedal ("Laden" spelled backwards) and
Chet (W32/Chet@MM)

These new worms send emails referring to the September 11, 2001 attacks
in New York to spread to as many computers as possible. If you have
Norton Antivirus configured to alert you when new updates are available
then you know that two updates came out today in response to these new
threats.

The VACM team advises that all users treat all emails with caution,
even if (especially if) they come from someone you know!

-----------------
1. VBS/Nedal is very destructive. It will wipe out your entire system
by destroying all .EXE files on your system.

It spreads via mIRC, pIRCH and e-mail, sending itself out
to every contact in the infected computer's Address Book.
The email arrives with a subject line of:

"Osama Bin Laden Comes Back!"

Nedal creates three files in the Windows directory of your system-

a. "Osama.EXE", which is the virus file that destroys all the
".EXE" files on your system.
b. "Laden.EXE"
c. "Alta.EXE", which deletes the contents of the "Windows\System"
folder and overwrites all files with the following extensions:
VBS, VBE, GIF, JPG, BMP, AVI, MP3, MPG, ZIP, CAB, MDB, XLS, LNK,
DOC, TXT, RTF.

VBS/Nedal also modifies the Windows Registry and displays messages
on your screen.

-----------------
2. Chet (W32/Chet@MM) is a file attachment called "11september.exe".
Chet is designed to spread via e-mail.
The email arrives with a subject line of:

"All people"

***************************************************
* What You Should Do...
***************************************************
Be VERY suspicious of ALL emails EVEN IF THEY COME FROM PEOPLE YOU KNOW.

Long-time VACM subscribers know that most viruses do actually come from
people you know because once their computer is infected, these viruses
send themselves to everyone in that person's address book (including you).

Do the following to protect yourself (in the order listed):

1. Update your Antivirus product with the latest virus definitions now.
Don't rely 100% on the automatic update feature in most antivirus
softwares, DO AN UPDATE MANUALLY and make sure you get the latest
definitions and software updates!

2. Apply the latest bug fixes to your version of Internet Explorer,
even if you use another browser to surf the internet.

If you haven't kept up with the bug fixes from Microsft that we have
recommended as "essential, critical patches", go to the VACM Archives
page (VACM Archives Home and follow the instructions in the
articles from:

5/16/02
6/14/02
7/2/02
8/27/02

3. Follow the VACM How-To Article instructions in the following articles:

How-To: Do This First! Stop script viruses forever!
How-To: Disable Your Preview Pane Now!
How-To: Disable Hiding of File Extensions Now!
How-To: Disable Java and ActiveX In Your Email

All VACM How-To articles can be found at the main VACM Archives page:

http://apcsnh.com/vacm/

4. Once you have secured your system with the latest bug fixes
from Microsoft, we highly recommend removing all the spyware
that has found its way into your system. Over 90% of our
clients were found to have more than 20 SpyWare components
on their systems. Chances are very high that your system(s)
do, too.

Follow our "HowTo Movie" instructions to remove SpyWare from
your system (20MB movie download):

http://apcsnh.com/vacm/spywaremovie.htm

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ Tip of the day...
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+
+ Your system has SpyWare on it, sending your credit card
+ info, usernames, passwords and other "private" information
+ to people you do not know!
+
+ The VACM team has created a How-To movie that shows you
+ exactly how to get the SpyWare off your systems and keep
+ it off.
+
+ Download the movie here:
+
+ http://apcsnh.com/vacm/spywaremovie.htm
+
+ This will download a 20MB self-extractor to your system.
+ Simply save the file to your desktop or other folder,
+ then double-click on it to run it.
+
+ Follow the instructions in the movie and get the SpyWare
+ OFF your system! You will be amazed at how much spyware
+ is on your system, if you are like 99% of our clients.
+
+ REMEMBER: SpyWares are not Viruses. Your antivirus
+ software will NOT keep your system free of SpyWare!
+
+ Please send questions or problem reports to vacm@apcsnh.com
+
+ *****************************************
+ *** Got a valuable tip you'd like to share with our VACM
+ *** subscribers? Send it to us at mailto:vacm@apcsnh.com.
+ *** If we publish your article in a VACM Alert, we will
+ *** send You a FREE Gift- our new "Virus Secrets II - System
+ *** Hardening Guide" on CD-ROM. VS2 is our new, illustrated,
+ *** step-by-step guide to hardening your system against the
+ *** new breed of viruses. Why do you need it? Because
+ *** these days, antivirus software alone does not
+ *** protect you 100% !!
+ *****************************************
+
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Best Regards,
Marc Deschenes, VACM Editor
The VACM Project at
Automated PC Solutions

*** Be sure to check out the appendix at the end of this alert
if you are having trouble booting your computer into "Safe Mode".
The process is all spelled out for you there.

Why should you be very
concerned about Spyware?

Learn how to avoid Identity Theft and Windows corruption in this
free VACM Video:
VACM-tested #1 AntiSpyware Software

How did they steal my Identity?

Why do I get so much SPAM ?

Why is your computer
running so slow ?

Today, every PC needs just a few protection softwares. Find out what and why. Visit our Links Page to avoid Indentiry Theft and costly computer repairs.
VACM Links to Protection Tools and Softwares

Keep your PC Safe and
Avoid a costly trip to the shop...
with these VACM approved tools.

You need 3 things to protect your PC(s) automatically. Use these links to go directly to the Download and Purchase pages:

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******** APPENDIX - Handy How-To Tips **********

* How To Boot into Safe Mode

Shut the computer down so that the power is off.

Turn the computer on, wait 1 second and begin pressing the F8 key
on the keyboard, once every second repeatedly. Do this until
the Windows Startup Menu appears. If you get a keyboard
error, press F1 to resume and then continue pressing the
F8 key once every second, or your PC may tell you to press another key for BIOS setup.

Select Safe Mode from the Windows Startup Menu, then press
the Enter key on the keyboard.

Windows will then boot into Safe Mode.
NOTE: This may take longer than a normal boot.

At the end of the boot process a dialog box will appear
informing you that Windows is in Safe Mode. Click OK on this dialog box.

Windows is now in Safe Mode.

If you miss hitting the F8 at the right time, Windows will boot
normally and you will not see the "Safe Mode" message. In this
case, start from the top of these instructions until you get the
boot menu screen where you can choose "Safe Mode". This can be
a little tricky the first time you do it.

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