Perhaps I was being a little ambitious, when I set out to create this newsletter.  It is the typical malady of most IT projects. When we first went to press, I could see a need, and I some how found the time to assemble my list of contacts, and the IT news that was being overlooked.  So much has transpired in last four months since the first issue.  In December, Paul Allen (Microsoft's co-founder) sponsored the launch of the worlds' first commercial suborbital spacecraft on the anniversary of the Wright Brothers First Flight.  That is also when the 108th Congress of the US enacted the Can-Spam Act of 2003, which was signed into law by President Bush and went into effect on January 1st, 2004.  Two incredible first steps that will bring about changes in the years to come.

While these changes were taking place, I discovered that there are still  some internet users out there without firewalls and virus protection.  I made this discovery when the firewall on one of my web servers automatically blocked an infected webmaster.  The only way to stop the Blasters and all the Sons of Blasters is to patch all the security holes and stick with the best practices.  Every Window's based PC needs to run Windows Update on a weekly basis (see the menu choice Tools, Windows Update on the Internet Explorer).  Everyone, that fails to keep their computer clean, runs the risk of being another worm breeding, Email blasting zombie to clog up the Internet.  The only way were are going to get a handle on this is for everyone to do their part.

Do not click on attachments unless you are expecting it and know what it is.  Up-to-date Anti-virus software and a firewall is hardly adequate protection.  They only protect against known threats.  New viruses are discovered every day most often after they have been around for awhile. Email born viruses will also try to exploit your good nature and your curiosity with various enticements.  They can use PIFs (Program Interface Files -- stuff like those icons on your desktop) to invade your system.  According to Microsoft the only way to view the contents of a PIF is with a hexadecimal editor.  Until our recent urging NAV (Norton Anti-Virus) would not scan a PIF by right clicking on it.  Make note that Symantec does not Email updates unless you submit a virus to them, and it may look almost identical to the spoof we reported in the last eZine.  Also note that an update may detect an infected attachment and leave your system infected.  Some infections must be removed manually and some are un-repairable.

There is no excuse for having an infected machine.  McAfee has a free online scanner, and there are free firewalls like ZoneAlarm.  Network Solutions has a downloadable file called Stinger that scans for and removes many common viruses and worms, including recent threats like MyDoom.B, which can masquerade as one of your friends and block access to anti-virus update sites. Call on us, if you need help, to install and configure these products or to clean your system.  This happens to be one of our sponsor's specialties.  Also, if you haven't done so already, do full backup your computer's current operational state.  That way if the worm bites or your system fails, you will have something to fall back on, instead of doing a full reinstall and reconfiguration of your computer.  FYI, we use Norton Ghost to backup the system drive on all of our computers.  It is really quite painless, runs in an unattended fashion and typically takes less than 20 minutes to backup the entire system.  All you need is Ghost and another hard drive.