I've been reading a great deal of traffic on the security newslists today concerning new virus threats. If some of you remember, last year we were repeatedly plagued by the Bagle and Netsky viruses. These two particular viruses were written by competing "teams" of virus writers who were constantly trying to one-up each other. Well, it appears that these teams are now joining forces. And even worse, other virus writers and teams appear to be joining in, as well. It's not yet certain if they're working together directly (collaborating with each other directly) or indirectly (merely sharing information with public posts and "seminars"), but either case is very bad for those of us who are charged with protecting ourselves, our organizations and institutions, and others from the continuing threat posed by worms and viruses.
For all of you who connect to the Internet regularly, keep your eyes open. If you have antivirus software, make sure it is (and it stays) up-to-date with its antivirus signatures. Also, since antivirus software is a strictly reactive product, only finding viruses if a signature exists for it, you should also keep a very close watch on what your computer is doing. If you see anything unusual, either investigate it immediately or report it quickly to someone who can investigate it.
Unfortunately, the Internet is not getting any safer, and our information security environment changes constantly. As I've said before, gone are the days where we could thoughtlessly, carelessly wander the Internet, with no particular concerns about where we were going or what we were doing. We must all maintain constant vigilance to prevent further problems. And that goes for me, as well.
Thanks for reading along, and "be careful out there."
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