I know this isn't strictly on-topic, but I want the chance to reach the widest possible audience. You've probably heard of that latest virus out there. It's WS32, something. Sure enough, that reached me via email while I was downstairs "on other business." Thank God for Norton Antivirus. It snatched that virus, couldn't repair it, and quarantined it. I came upstairs and killed that sucker. Then I setup my spam filter to reject any emails from that address. I didn't recognize the email address anyway, so I'm sure I've never corresponded with those people before. If you don't have an antivirus program, get one. Make sure to keep it up to date. I have Norton Antivirus set to do automatic updates, and got at least one update recently. I usually go ahead and check for updates manually as well. That helped me this time. Ron

Attached Link: http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/

It is the W32.Klez, been keeping lots of people busy....click here and get your info on it...Sharen :-)

i got this virus some days ago from ebot - sent via renderosity...

This is truly an epidemic. I picked up a virus yesterday for the first time EVER -- [knowingly anyway] -- in 14 years of online work. Norton caught it. This one wasn't titled Klez, though; Norton called it "ExploitException".

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Some times this virus comes with 3 or 4 other virus's. But I would check it out at Norton's site to make sure. I have gotten this virus about 20 times already, Norton keeps finding it, but man it is annoying....and if it is coming from ebot, that will be distressing. Sharen :-(

another thing to be careful of is when upgrading to winxp it deactivates your virus checker while it works but doesn't reactivate it once it's finished upgrading, keep your virus checker running at all other times it will save your system and your hair :) Rob p.s I'm nearly back to normal after my run in with a virus last week

It has been a plague lately, 3 to 5 emails everyday and more than that about 5 days ago. I do live update everyday, which, right now, I recommend, and never turn off my virus protection. And, I agree, Ron, it seems to have been very deliberate, the first rush of carriers were from people I did not know. Norton has caught every thing-- knock wood-- even if it had to quarantine. Emily

One thing about Viruses is that they can come from people you know. They get into address books on the victim's computer and propagate themselves from there. I don't open attachments even from friends anymore. Having been bit twice. Norton caught it only once.

In my 20+ years of computing, most viruses I caught were from friends or relatives. They didn't give me the viruses on purpose. They were just not careful. This most recent virus does its dirty work without the knowledge of the sender. The virus looks through an address book and starts sending emails to people on the address book. The computer owner doesn't need to be there, and may not even see the virus doing its dirty work. Yes, I recommend keeping your antivirus program on duty all the time and doing regular updates. There is one exception: When you install software, the antivirus program thinks the installation is an attack. The antivirus program fights that installation/attack. Some people's computers have been massively screwed up because of this problem. Believe me I've helped countless people who had this same problem. That's why many software installations will tell you to disable the antivirus program for the software install. You should only be installing software from people you trust. That follows that you shouldn't worry about a virus. You can always do a virus scan on the software first before installing, then disable your antivirus program. If you're upgrading to Windows XP, your antivirus program probably needs to be replaced anyway. So go ahead and uninstall it first. Antivirus programs and utility programs like Norton Systemworks work very closely with your operating system. That's why a new version, rather than an upgrade, is essential. The software companies are not ripping you off. They need to make a new version, and someone needs to pay for their labor, etc. I currently run Norton SystemWorks 2002 and Norton Internet Security 2002. I've used Norton products since 1995, and they've never failed me once. I've tried other antivirus programs or firewalls, even popular free ones. They've let me down. We'll save those stories for another time. Ron

I am the same as you, getting them everyday. What a pain...Norton has been catching and I did a scan on my whole drive Saturday right off of Norton's site, which I think all should do.....takes a long time though. Sharen

A question for you: what e-mail program are you running? Does this virus only attack Outlook or will people with other e-mail programs (Eudora, etc) need to worry? On the other hand, I'm pretty sure the virus won't get transmitted through a web browser- so people with web-based e-mail should be safe... just don't download any strange-looking files. --John

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Any email client that can be set to automatically open attachments is at risk (this is one of the 'features' in OE that virus makers exploit :-). Combine that with the number of people who leave their default 'hide file names' checked & you have a lot of users playing Russian Roulette with a .45 automatic :-) Personally I use Eudora because it gives me the option when to open an attached file & in the interim stores it in a proprietary folder of my chioce, as opposed to a temp folder in the Windows directory.

JHoagland...this is a question i ask myself everyday!why do people continue to use outlook??i mean seriously this is one dangerous application!most worms are written specifically for it,any of those virii that auto send themselves to all your contacts..where do you think they look for those address's?they're programmed to go find outlook and then use it! i mean geez i wouldn't touch that program with a ten foot pole,there are many email progs available,there is no need to use such a insecure program. i'm not paranoid about virus's i know a fair bit about computer's,i don't get many,and if i do i can usually deal with them,but many people are so very paranoid and yet they use that infernal virus incubater called outlook!i don't get it....

rodzilla, did you know that Outlook and Outlook Express are indeed two separate programs? Most users would user Outlook Express, the freebie email program that is actually integrated into Internet Explorer. I've tried Eudora a few times over the years. It never quite worked or looked the way I wanted it to work. And it was so hard to get the initial configuration setup each time. There was some weird way they did things. I even tried Pegasus mail briefly. None of these programs work or look the way I want. I like the convenience and utility of having the *standard* software. I've worked Internet Technical Support before. Internet Explorer & Outlook Express are the software supported by the Microsoft Networks (MSN), and many other ISP's. Ron

yes i hear what you're saying Ron,i held on to netscape 4.7 for a long while just to use it's email client,which i liked and was quite used too,these day's i use a program called "pocomail" which alltho not quite what i wanted,is fairly customizable and does get the job done with pretty minimal fuss. do a search on any of the big share-ware sites and you'll find more than a few options to try,some free,others inexpensive. my whole point is it seems that everytime you hear about a new virus or worm it seems to be targeted at the MS software that everyone seems to STILL use,now giving everyone equal credit for intelligence why would you keep using software that you know is vulnerable and that "the bad guys" are targeting?this is the part that baffles me they write these dastardly little things counting on the fact that you do use this software..if you don't.. well you still get the virus but maybe it doesn't do anything but set off your virus scanner,and even in the worst case maybe it causes you some problems but everybody you know doesn't get sent a copy...with your address on it!

food for thought...If 90% of computer users used say, Eudora or pegasus instead, wouldn't "virus writers" just start writing for those programs and utilizing their flaws? Just a thought... zerowolf