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updated
Tue, September 18, 2007
Please be advised that this message is actually the W32.Mimail.A@mm
worm. W32.Mimail.A@mm is a worm that spreads by email, and that
steals information from a user's machine. Complete details, including
diagnosis and removal instructions, are available at:
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.mimail.a@mm.html
The three most common questions we're receiving in regards to
this virus, and their answers, are:
Q: "Is
my domain name expiring?"
A: Maybe it is,
and maybe it isn't -- but the sender of this e-mail doesn't know.
You can always check the status of your domain name registration
by performing a WHOIS lookup at any of the public WHOIS lookup
facilities.
(i.e. http://www.nicforce.net/whois/).
Q: "How
did they send this from my domain?"
A: They didn't.
The FROM and Reply-To addresses of any e-mail can be set to just
about anything. This worm is simply forging the FROM address to
make it match the TO address. The only way you can tell where an
e-mail actually came from is by viewing the full internet headers
of the email.
To protect yourself against viruses and worms of this nature:
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NEVER under any circumstances open an e-mail attachment that
you are not specifically expecting -- even if it's from your
best friend!
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Run good and updated anti-virus software on your computer.
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Keep your Microsoft Windows and Office programs up-to-date
with the latest security patches.
Q: "Why
doesn't your e-mail server 'filter out' these e-mails?"
A: By enabling such
filtering applications would prevent you from receiving ANY attachments
(i.e. pictures, Word files, videos, etc) of ANY kind. Also, the
e-mail server would have no way of truly telling the difference
between an general "spam" and an e-mail sent from a new
friend or potential new client.
Note that almost all viruses and worms affect only Microsoft operating
systems (such as Windows 95. 98, ME, 2000 and XP) and applications.
All of our web servers are Unix-based, and are therefore immune
to most problems of this nature. Except for delivering
possibly-contaminated e-mail through the mail server, our servers are not generating
any viruses or worms.
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