W32.Blaster.Worm

[kathrudden]

I think I got this today, perhaps over the weekend. I noticed no problems until tonight.

Tonight I couldn't link from one site to another or to the itnernet from a link in my e-mail.

After a re-boot I could again link, but shortly svchost.exe bombed out and I could no longer link. Neither could I get into Live Update at Norton.

I again rebooted and immediately tried Norton and got through. Then, as soon as I tried linking somewhere, Norton caught the worm redhanded, but couldn't delete it.

Luckily for me my nephew helped me through this ordeal. He e-mailed me the Microsoft patch that the worm was trying to keep from getting. Then he stepped me through cleaning up the registry. After that I did a complete Norton scan and Norton deleted msblast.exe.

Can you tell me how I got this thing? Is just being on-line without the Microsoft patch sufficient or do you have to surf somewhere that has the worm? Does it make any difference if you use a telephone line or have DSL?

Norton's definition for this was updated by Norton today. Has there been a lot of activity with this worm today?

My nephew recommends that I get a linksys router. Should I get an addional firewall such as Zone Alarm as well?

I'm on Win2k pro.

 

[wbg34]

w32.msblast.worm scans a range of ip addresses for unpatched computers running win2k or xp.

It doesn't matter which connection you use. If you have an IP address and are unpatched, then you are a target.

This has been a very active worm. As far as what you get I would start with the fire wall. I would recommend the Kerio personal firewall

http://www.kerio.com/us/kpf_home.html

or Blackice defender

http://blackice.iss.net/index.php.

A router can help if it is configured properly.

 

[kathrudden]

Thanks. I am getting the router because I do want to link my two computers as well as have protection. The Linksys is a router and firewall. I will get my nephew to help with the configuration. He does that for a living