| November 15, 1999 The Bubbleboy Virus by Shawn Pence Ok, So after thinking about the panic ensuing about this whole BubbleBoy virus and looking at the virus itself I'm convinced that the entire virus (and more importantly, the current electronic media) world is based on the politics of panic. The emails spread to everyone and thier brother (and sister, and mother, and 3rd cousin twice tremoved) has caused more slowdown than the virus itself. Here's the deal. BubbleBoy exploits a security hole (read as "bug") in Outlook express that allows specially designed viruses to activiate while the letter is in the preview pane. Now, BubbleBoy is not a virus, but a trojan, a program that allows people access to your computer. Most importantly BubbleBoy has no destructive payload and will not damage your computer. Let me say that again: BubbleBoy will not damage your computer. It is what is called a proof-of-concept run. Meaning that it is basically a test run of the code to see if it actually could be done. The only thing that BubbleBoy will do is infect your computer and spread. It will not destroy files by the thousands or even by the dozen or give some elite team of hackers access to your computer. The scary thing about BubbleBoy is that it proves that it could do that. Well, could if you choose not do download the security fixes (read as "bug fixes") available from Microsoft Windows Update. Microsoft is well aware that outlook and Internet Explorer are as full of holes as the Clinton defense in the Lewinksy trial. So they are busy plugging those holes as soon as they are discovered (usually discovered by a group of users who do nothing but look for these holes; security experts...read as geeks with far too much free time). A stop by the Windows Update site every couple weeks or so should keep you and your computer safe until the next hole is discovered (or, more likely, until the next version of Explorer is released). Always download all of the security fixes and patches released. They are typically small and released once or twice a month. This "politics of panic" is quickly trying this hacker's nerves. People jump every time a virus is discovered without looking to see what the virus does, if anything. Take precautions and be careful and you'll be fine. Below is a list of the locations you can find the security patches for Outlook Express and Explorer. Take advantage of them! http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com http://www.microsoft.com/msdownload http://www.microsoft.com/msdownload/iebuild/ascontrol/en/ascontrol.htm November 10, 1999 By Benedict Varela According to all the experts in the computer industry, a myriad of viruses will occur on January 1, 2000. It will be your responsibility to insure the safety of your personal computers. Also, help your at work management by printing this article out for them to read. Please , this is not a hoax; there are a lot of sick people out there that take a perverse pleasure out of making our computing experience miserable. Shawn, our resident expert on Virus’s will follow this news blurb with a probable scenario on how the Y2k Virus’s will attack your computer/networks and an educated guess on what they will be
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