STHC-L: The Science, Technology and Health Care Archives Forum

warning from STHC-L administrator re: do not open "Forum notify" attachment

• Date:   Mon, 24 May 2004 08:08:51 -0700
• To:   sthc-l@library.ucla.edu
• From:   Russell A. Johnson <rjohnson@library.ucla.edu>
• Subject:   warning from STHC-L administrator re: do not open "Forum notify" attachment
• Message-ID:   15b98816147b.16147b15b988@library.ucla.edu

STHC-L list members:

Do not open the attachment "Counter_strike.scr" on a message from listmember Lisa Mix with 
subject line "Forum notify". Apparently this came to the list through a computer infected 
by W32.Beagle.X@mm which, according to McAfee:

"is a medium-risk mass-mailing worm that attempts to open a backdoor on an infected user's 
PC, allowing a hacker to have remote access to the computer. The worm spreads by sending itself 
to email addresses collected from an infected machine."
http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=helpCenter&hcName=bagle_z


As a rule of thumb, one should never open a suspicious-looking attachment even from a sender 
whom one knows, because that person's email address book has been accessed and used without 
permission. Always run attachments against your updated antivirus utility before opening.

The server on which STHC-L resides blocks 30 or more Spam attempts each day, because these 
attempts come from addresses which are not subscribed (and subscription attempts require approval 
by the list administrator). However, it would also be a good idea to remove listserv addresses 
from your email address book, so hostile spams like this are not distributed. Instead, bookmark 
the list website and cut and paste the list address when you send an email. 

cheers,

Russell Johnson
STHC-L administrator


___________________________________
Russell A. Johnson 
rjohnson@library.ucla.edu
(310) 825-6940

Archivist and Cataloger 
History & Special Collections Division
Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library, UCLA
Box 951798 Los Angeles, CA 90095-1798
http://www.library.ucla.edu/biomed/his/

Archivist
Neuroscience History Archives
Brain Research Institute, UCLA
Box 951791 Los Angeles, CA 90095-1791
http://www.NeuroscienceArchives.org