OPASERV Network Worm infects you just by being online (Fix Available)

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VACM - Virus Alerts for the Common Man

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OPASERV Network Worm infects you just by being online (Fix Available)

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Greetings from The VACM Team,

In This Issue:
----------------------
- OPASERV Network Worm infects you just by being online (Fix Available)

People wishing to subscribe to the VACM Alerts may do so at:
Subscribe to Virus Alerts for the Common Man

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...
***************************************************
Opaserv is a network worm that spreads via the internet, NOT via your
email. Just being connected to the internet makes you vulnerable to
being infected by Opaserv, unless your have taken certain precautions.

Opaserv has backdoor capabilities, which means that your computer can
be accessed by the hacker(s) that wrote this virus, and you would not
even be aware that your files are being accessed from your system.

Opaserv is "network aware". Not only will it seek out vulnerable
computers across the internet, but also all computers on your own
local network. This makes it especially dangerous for companies
that have internal networked computers.

As a test, the VACM Team searched a range of IP addresses to see
just how many home and business users have vulnerable computers.
It was more than a little amazing to us to find out that doing
just a very quick 5 minute search with a freely available scanning
tool, showed over 300 totally vulnerable computers, or in other
words 300 people who were online at the time, whose computers
were completely visible to us across the internet, and whose
hard drive contents were freely and completely accessible to us!

You read that correctly-
the entire contents of their C: drives were totally accessible and any
and all files could be downloaded to our own systems. Rest assured
that no downloads were done. Our only interest was to find out how
many computers are totally void of any sort of protection.

Apparently, the majority of people are still unaware that
Microsoft Windows is SO vulnerable to attacks from anyone on the
internet and that there are "hacking" tools that are freely downloadable
on the internet to do this sort of thing. Since it would NOT be
prudent for us to release the names of such hacking tools, just be
aware that Windows is VERY vulnerable to attack from anyone on
the internet, and that the tools for doing so are free and easily
downloadable.

How can this be? Because Microsoft ships Windows in such a way that
there is little to no security to protect you from being seen on
the internet.

***************************************************
* What You Should Do
***************************************************
Since Opaserv uses Microsft Networking's NetBios protocol to search
for computers that are vulnerable, there are fortunately some very
simple ways of protecting yourself from this type of attack.

Here are the best options to make your computer(s) invisible to the
rest of the internet community:

1. Whether you have a local network of your own or not, the easiest
and most reliable way to make your computer(s) invisible to everyone
else on the internet is to install a personal firewall on all of
your computers. The VACM Team's testing has consistently shown
Zone Alarm Pro to be far superior to other personal firewall
products currently available from the major software makers.

To find out more about Zone Alarm Pro, go to:

Zone Alarm Pro - the best firewall for your PC(s)

Zone Alarm will make your computer(s) completely Invisible to all
other internet users. It does this by blocking all Microsoft
Networking (NetBios) attempts to connect to your computer.

This is THE single most effective way to protect yourself from
internet worms that simply scan the internet for computers that are
wide open because of the way Microsoft has designed Windows.

2. If you want to be sure that you have not already been infected by
Opaserv, use the detection and removal tool that Symantec (the
makers of Norton Antivirus) have made available here:

OPASERV detection and removal tool

This will bring you to the Symantec web page where you will find
the download link for the Opaserv removal tool and complete
instructions for using it on all versions of Windows.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ 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?

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running so slow ?

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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.