HiWAAY: Information/Internet Services

SirCam and CodeRed Viruses Continue to Spread

Huntsville, Ala. (August 3, 2001) - The latest viruses continue to spread across the Internet at increasing rates. The following describes the SirCam Virus and CodeRed Worm, and how your audience can find more information and help in preventing these from spreading further.

----SirCam Virus: Can infect any computer running Microsoft Windows. The most widespread and hazardous virus hitting Internet users today continues to be the SirCam virus. The virus always arrives as an attachment to an email that begins, "Hi! How are you?" You may or may not know the sender. Since you can only infect your computer by double-clicking on the attachment, just delete the email. That will prevent the virus from infecting your computer.

For more information about this and other virus threats go to www.hiwaay.net and click on "Alert: Virus and Security Information". SirCam, like other email delivered viruses is very common but easy to defend against if you follow a few simple guidelines:

1. Don't open any attachments from someone you don't know.
2. Don't open any attachments with file extensions (or endings), such as .exe or .vbs.
3. Don't open any unsolicited files or programs from anyone, even if you know the sender.
4. Always use anti-virus software and make sure it's up to date.

----CodeRed Worm: Infects computers running Windows NT or Windows 2000. CodeRed only infects computers running Windows NT and Windows 2000. However, due to how the worm spreads, a single infected computer can easily shut down an entire network by clogging all the outgoing lines as CodeRed tries to spread itself to other computer hosts. Unpatched computers are extremely vulnerable. If you are running Windows NT or Windows 2000, you should download and install the free patches provided by Microsoft. They can be found at:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/security/bulletin/MS01-033.asp

You can also find the patches by going to www.hiwaay.net and clicking on "Alert: Virus and Security Information" and reading the FAQ called "How do I protect my computer from the CodeRed worm?" To learn more about protecting your computer from viruses, please visit www.hiwaay.net and click on "Alert: Virus and Security Information," or contact Customer Support at 888/244-9229.