Hi Everyone,
First off here's the Garden!
http://community.webshots.com/album/151558296meKavF
So enjoy
This was from Lisa's IT dept regarding a new virus so heads up
This is to inform everyone that a new virus has emerged this week of which we all need to be aware and take appropriate action. This virus is especially dangerous because it comes in the form of a Microsoft Word Document, which is a document type most of us see on a daily basis. When the document is opened, it infects your computer, and can also infect files on our network allowing it to spread to all NSAHO users. It uses a previously undiscovered vulnerability in Word to infect victim computers and as of right now, there is no patch to close the vulnerability. What this means is that as new viruses are developed using this vulnerability, the only defense will be the antivirus companies updating their products.
This problem has two ways it can be mitigated, by patching the vulnerability or by catching the virus that exploits the vulnerability. Usually, we get regular patches from manufacturers that allow us to patch problems before there are any viruses that exploit said problems. In this case, the virus was released onto the internet before anyone knew about it. Therefore, we have only our antivirus software to stop this and any other new threats that are created before the patch is released.
This is why it is extremely important that everyone here and at home make sure that your virus definitions are up to date. NSAHO antivirus software on NSAHO computers is kept up to date by our update server, so as long as you are connecting regularly (every day or so) then you will be receiving the latest virus updates from the server.
Everyone should also be very suspicious of Word documents that you receive for the next few weeks that you were not expecting. If you do receive a Word document that you were not expecting, you should follow up with the sender before opening. If infected with the current virus utilizing this vulnerability, the attacker can take complete control of the infected system.
The following are some websites that go into more detail about this vulnerability, and also the steps to take to deal with this problem.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/919637.mspx - Here is the Microsoft Security Advisory. This will give a good overall explanation of the vulnerability
http://secunia.com/advisories/20153/ - This article gives another explanation of the vulnerability.
http://www.symantec.com/outbreak/word_exploit.html - This is an article explaining the vulnerability, the current virus taking advantage of this vulnerability, and also how to repair a computer that has already been infected.
We will inform everyone when a patch has been released and is applied to everyone’s computer.
If anyone has any questions, please feel free to contact me to discuss.
Later All
Fergie