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--- VIRUS ADVISORY --- W32/Bugbear@MM
- Updated 10/4/02
An e-mail-borne computer virus that lets hackers control infected machines remotely continues to spread and constitutes the most severe attack this year, experts say. The worm, known as W32.Bugbear, or I-Worm.Tanatos, infects computers that use Microsoft's Windows operating systems.
It was first spotted a week ago and has spread to dozens of countries. Once a machine is infected, a hacker could steal and delete information from it. Some subject lines for the e-mail are "bad news," "Membership Confirmation," "Market Update Report," and "Your Gift."
The worm replicates itself through a Windows machine's e-mail address book and can attach itself to previously sent e-mail messages. It also can spread through network systems and can allow hackers to intercept passwords and gain access to computers over the Internet.
It attempts to terminate various antivirus and firewall programs, according to Symantec Corp., which has posted a downloadable repair on its Web site. Symantec has rated Bugbear a severe threat. Bugbear is currently the worst computer security outbreak globally, Mikko Hypponen, manager of anti-virus research at F-Secure Corp. in Helsinki, Finland, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. F-Secure also posted a fix on its Web site.
The worm is expected to last well into next year because many consumers will not realize their computer is infected, Hypponen said. Microsoft issued a patch last year, Security Bulletin MS01-027. But many users to do not keep their machines current with patches.
McAfee.com has seen a growing number of computers infected with W32/Bugbear@MM. The risk assessment has been updated to HIGH-ON-WATCH FOR HOME AND CORPORATE USERS. As always, we recommend that you keep your anti-virus software up-to-date for the best protection.
ColorMatters.com
 Color
plays a vitally important role in the world in which we live.
Color can sway thinking, change actions, and cause reactions.
It can irritate or soothe your eyes, raise your blood pressure
or suppress your appetite. When used in the right ways, color
can save on energy consumption. When used in the wrong ways,
color can contribute to global pollution. As a powerful form
of communication, color is irreplaceable. Red means "stop"
and green means "go." Traffic lights send this universal message.
Likewise, the colors used for a product, web site, business
card, or logo cause powerful reactions.
www.ColorMatters.com
is a great site to learn about colors and how they effect
our world. Color and the Brain ... and the Body ... Color
& Science ... Coor & Computers ... Color Factoids ... Color
Chatter ... Color Newsletter .. and More!
October
Search Engine News From
www.searchengine-news.com
Google's - Google updated the majority of their
index approximately September 27th based on the content they
gathered around August 28th.
Last month we informed you about the new text based ad network
designed to help boost an advertisers PageRank at Google.
As predicted, the PR Ad Network, and many of their associated
web sites have been penalized by Google. Many of the sites
associated with the PR Ad Network, such as those at SearchKing.com
have experienced large reductions in PageRank.
Google's latest update to their index indicates a number
of changes were introduced into their Algorithm. We see
two elements that appear to be a part of the changes...
Freshness – Sites that frequently update their
page content seem to appear more often in the top 10 of
popular search phrases. Here's a few tips for making your
pages appear ever fresh
Important pages count more – It appears that links
from low PageRank websites are boosting the sites they link
to even less than before after this latest change.
Inktomi - The free submit options to Inktomi have
been disappearing although there are still a few left.
HotBot - No major changes at HotBot this month.
Fast / Lycos - No major changes.
ODP - No significant changes this month at ODP.
LookSmart Renews Contracts with MSN / AltaVista
September 18th LookSmart announced they have extended their
distribution agreements with AltaVista and MSN. Both contracts
are now good until December 3, 2003.
Yahoo is continuing to experiment with their search
results, be prepared for additional changes early in October
if they switch search providers.. As of September 30th,
Yahoo was still using Google as their provider but this
is subject to change October 1st.
Overture offers the opportunity to get your site
listed at the top of the engines in as little as three to
five days. For more about this important strategy see this
month's article How To Get The Most Out Of Overture without
getting your pocketbook whacked!
New Browser 
Kills Pop-Ups!
In addition
to IE, Netscape, Mozilla and Opera, we now have a new browser
that is supposed to kill all of the annoying "pop-up" ads.
Who out there is tired of X-10 ... Orbitz ... Need we go
on?
Crazy Browser is a powerful Web browser.
It has the ability to open multiple sites and windows
inside a single browser task. It also has a Smart Popup
Filter - it blocks all the annoying popups automatically!
It can handle multiple monitors and has tab status indicators.
Annoying ad windows can be removed automatically and multiple
pages can be saved and reopened together. Crazy Browser
comes with many preconfigured search engines, but you
can extend it to use your own.
... and the best part ... IT
IS FREE!
From Rich: It is very similar to IE and it is a bit
slower than other browsers, but try it ... Nothing to
lose!
336-408-9075
Rich@RichsWebDesign.com
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