In a Security Alert issued by Stanford University's Information and Technology Systems and Services, a "family" of worms referred to as NDemon, Phatbot, Agobot or Gaobot are infecting a large number of machines across the Internet. They spread through a number of mechanisms, including password guessing (looking for accounts with weak passwords), scanning for open file shares, and identifying machines without vital security patches.
The alert offers links to all known detection methods and removal tools, as well as a steps that should be taken by all computer users to prevent the spread of these bots. Microsoft Windows users are strongly encouraged to take the following steps to reduce their exposure to this new threat - for details on how to make these changes, please consult ITSS: Secure Desktop Computing.
The ITSS Secure Desktop Computing bulletin includes password safety tips, procedures for securing your desktop computer, adminstrative guide policies, dealing with online harassment, and software and tools including a Security Self-Test utility.
The Stanford Security Self-Test utility is a simple, self-contained tool that performs a set of basic security checks appropriate to the kind of computer you run it on. The tool is non-intrusive, sends absolutely no information about your computer over the network, and is provided as an educational aid in your efforts to keep your computer more secure. It is not intended for use on servers, but rather individuals' desktop and laptop Macs and PCs.
If the tool discovers any significant security vulnerabilities on your computer, it will alert you to this fact, and tell you--usually by referring you back to the Secure Computing web site--how to address the problem. For help you can click the tool's "Security Self-Test Help..." button, which will take you to the appropriate web page.
Discuss at the Band of Gonzos Virus & Security Forum
No comments:
Post a Comment