Q Hey, Jim, this so-called MyDoom worm got me today. A co-worker–or so I thought–sent me an e-mail with an attached note. As I usually do from this co-worker, I opened it. Now my friends are blaming me for spreading this worm to their computers, and my computer is running very slowly. Now what?
A You’re not alone. Computer experts worked feverishly Tuesday to counter the MyDoom attack.
Their best nugget of advice: If your mother sends you an e-mail with an attachment that says she loves you, don’t open it.
Once again, ordinary people who sit before their home PCs and their office workstations made the same mistake of opening infected files attached to e-mails. The worm-infested messages appear to come from colleagues, customers, friends and family.
Fecklessly opening these e-mail attachments can awaken a binary beast. This monster ruthlessly looks about the host computer, finds the owner’s e-mail address book and fires off a copy of the beast to all those listed.
So the question now becomes, how do you outwit the worm?
Unfortunately, the MyDoom fixes are particularly difficult because this worm gets very deep into the Windows system registry and makes dangerous changes to certain key files. It’s better to look for outside help than to try and make the fix yourself.
If you’ve been slimed, head to the antivirus Web sites run by experts like Network Associates (www .mcafee.com), Symantec (www .symantec.com) and Panda Software (www .pandasoftware.com).
The biggest clue to MyDoom is that infected e-mail messages are 22.5 kilobytes long. Most e-mail software shows the size of attachments.
Furthermore, MyDoom outsmarts earlier worms by constantly rewriting the e-mail messages it generates. That means there is no one subject line or text to warn people that the worm is attached.
If you’re not a victim this time, be assured that you remain a target for the next go-around. So never forget: Worms can’t bite unless you open an attachment–and that includes attachments from people you trust.
