Computer viruses are like buses. You wait ages and then they all come along at once.
The latest virus to hit my inbox, several times, was Lentin (aka Yaha). It didn't manage to break through The Argus' defences because our automatic virus alert messages are ever so efficient at appearing whenever they detect an incoming assault.
Lentin is a mass-mailing worm carried in an infected email attachment. It arrives with a message containing varying subject lines and body contents so can be difficult to spot.
It is designed to propagate itself to each and every email address in the victim's Microsoft Windows address book, MSN messenger list, Yahoo pager list and ICQ list. It also attempts to disable anti-virus and firewall software. In August, the worm was used in a Denial of Service (DoS) attack on the official Pakistan government web site (www.pak.gov.pk).
The most important thing about viruses is to make sure you follow some basic rules to avoid infecting your own machine and others. Sites such as VirusList are a fantastic resource for virus checking.
It's the same story with virus hoaxes which, while they can't damage your computers, cause a nuisance by consuming valuable bandwidth and wasting resources.
In between clearing my inbox of virus alert messages I also received a fair few about Ace-? - a mobile phone virus which, supposedly, could erase every bit of IMEI and IMSI information from both your phone and your SIM card, leaving it unable to connect to a telephone network.
The good news is, according to Kaspersky Labs, the rumour is just that. The VirusList site contains a guide to help you detect hoaxes, while security specialist Sophos' web site compiles a list of hoaxes.
After you've finished with the viruses, Eidos' site for Hitman 2: Silent Assassin is worth a quick visit.
The game, although well received by the gaming press, came under fire from Sikh groups for allegedly depicting the religious adherents as members of an evil cult.
A statement on the site says Eidos has come to an amicable position with the Sikh Coalition after agreeing to variously remove, revise and adapt material in versions of the game and on its site.
www.viruslist.com
www.kaspersky.com
www.sophos.com
www.hitman2.com
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