Re: GAS-L: A plague of viruses..

[Arnt Karlsen <arnt@c2i.net>]

On Mon, 19 Aug 2002 06:27:07 -0600, 
"Tom Reed" <tombreed@attbi.com> wrote in message 
<005101c2477b$bc211770$0782fd0c@TOMBREED>:

> Dear Pete and all:
> 
> I probably get 100 Emails a week from the STOVES and GASIFICATION
> list.  I am running about 15% infected with KLEZ virus.  My Norton
> Antivirus advises me to quarantine them, so I do and mostly don't see
> them among the messages.  
> 
> Whenever I SEND to the list the message is always checked by NAV
> before it leaves.  
> 
> So I hope I am not any source of virus here.  I hope all of you can
> say the same, but some are getting through, always KLEZ.  
> 
> Yours truly,      TOM REED              GASIFICATION MODERATOR
>   ----- Original Message ----- 
>   From: Peter Verhaart 
>   To: Tom Reed 
>   Cc: stoves@crest.org 
>   Sent: Saturday, August 17, 2002 7:06 AM
>   Subject: Re: Have a new Assumption
> 
> 
>   Dear Tom,
> 
>           I have just installed a new mainboard in my computer, as
>           well as an anti-virus program. Since a few days I get at
>           least 3 messages a day containing the KLEZ worm, and they
>           are all, ostensibly, from the Stoves list. Some even from
>           tombreec@attbi.com, others from stoves-help and from
>           stoves-unsubscribe. All of them containing short messages in
>           what we used to call "peccable English''.
> 
>   I will again check my computer for viruses but I think it is clean.
>   A clever idea of the inventor, bye the way, to set list members up
>   against one another.
> 

..there is really _one_ cure for your virus problems: allow _only_ 
plain text formatted messages, thru the lists.  Strip off _all_ 
executable code such as pictures, binary document formats like 
"Winword .doc" etc.

..this can be done by denying all such posts, or by reformatting them 
to plain text only, before sending them from the list server.  Trivial,
on the server side.  _Should_ be trivial, on the client side too...

..on the client side, the primary and easiest target for virus makers,
are Microsoft's own Outlook, Outlook Express, Internet Explorer, the 
Office suite, and Microsoft's operating systems.  

..if you cannot move to another platform such as Mac X, Unix or
GNU/Linux, because of some special software you depend on for, say,
thermochemical analysis, consider moving to Opera, Mozilla or Netscape 
for web browsing, mail and usenet usage, and to StarOffice or 
OpenOffice for "office needs" plus the above.  These are free, 
as in free speech too, thru their licensing.

..the above tip should stop most Microsoft spesific virus, leaving 
only Microsoft's operating systems open for attacks.  The most recent
one exploits a flaw in Microsoft's implementation of SSL encryption,
allowing any cracker to hijack, say, your internet banking sessions.  

..this SSL exploit was first reported for the Konqeror web browser 
some 2 or 3 weeks ago, and the fix was made available in I believe 96 
minutes after the first report.  I hear Microsoft is still working on
fixes for all their operating systems, it is possible they were misled 
by the 96 minute fix of a competing web browser.  If you use _any_ 
Microsoft operating system, you may want to monitor their progress.

..before you consider installing the upcoming Microsoft SSL-patches 
for their operating systems, you will want to _read_ Microsofts new 
(as of June 2002) (Supplementary?) End User License Agreement before
committing into a legal agreement, where you surrender the right to 
decide on the choise of "third party software", to Microsoft, so
Microsoft may remove any and all "third party software" from "your"
computer, at Microsofts discretion, and regardless of your "third 
party software"'s purpose, it be mail or thermochemical analysis.

..if you did like most people do, "clicked-without-reading" the 
EULA that came with Microsoft's Windows Media Player security patch 
2 months ago to install it, take the time to read it.  If you didn't 
read it, as an employee, chances are you may have violated the 
authority given to you, by your employer.  I'd sue and fire people 
for such stunts, YMMV.

..of course, you can do what I did in 1997, zap all wintendo code 
off my gear and install GNU/Linux, (I now run Red Hat Linux 7.3,
'http://redhat.com/', I can also recommend Mandrake 8.2 for you
newbies, and Debian for those of you who know unix) and run games 
and thermochemical analysis code thru emulators like WINE, VMWare,
dosemu or bochs, or convert it to native linux code, and, firewall
Microsoft _away_ from your gear.

..doing what I did in 1997, of course assumes you have _not_ (been)
committed into a legal agreement under terms like Microsofts new
(Supplementary?) End User License Agreement since June 2002.

..if you _have_ been made a part in such a legal agreement with 
Microsoft, firewalling them away from their software, on "your" 
hardware, will be in violation with _your_ legal agreement with
Microsoft, and such violations may be criminal felonies
under your local jurisdiction, here too, YMMV.  

..in case you want to terminate said legal agreement with Microsoft,
you may want to sell all your wintendo boxes with software licenses and
notify your legal authorities and Microsoft of the transferred licenses,
or, you may want to sue Microsoft to recover your proper legal ownership
of your hardware, and, you may want to organize a lobby to "lean on"
your parliament politicians, to have them pass new legislation to your 
advantage and "for national security", just like Microsoft does.  ;-)


..if you want GNU/Linux or gasifier or lobbying expertize, 
I'm still open for _reasonable_ offers.  ;-)

-- 
..med vennlig hilsen = with Kind Regards from Arnt... ;-)
...with a number of polar bear hunters in his ancestry...
  Scenarios always come in sets of three: 
  best case, worst case, and just in case.

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