The BIG NASTY?. Don't panic. I think it's just another nasty worm trying to spread using social engineering techniques. In this case, that terms refers to the way it tries to persuade you to open the infected attachment.

As I always say, the most effective "antivirus" is myself checking the e-mail headers. If it includes an unrequested attachment, even if it comes from a friend, then it's likely to be a virus.

Also, I've noticed that whenever there is a wide-spread virus I get lots of copies. I guess, my e-mail address is pretty popular.

UPDATE: Well, as I was guessing the message is indeed a virus. Its name is Mimail. Check out the Spanish early alert antivirus website . There are links to the main antivirus providers with detailed info about the virus.

Watch out for the Blaster virus. Unlike most of the virus/worms, this one doesn't arrive through e-mail. You can get infected just by connecting to the internet.

Infected computers try to connect to as many computers as possible and checks whether your PC has Windows 2000 / XP / 2003. If it does, then it tries to connect through the 135 port and infects your computer.

Apart from installed the patch provided by Microsoft to solve the security hole, you should always use an updated antivirus as well as a good firewall (if your firewall is properly set up it shouldn't be possible to infect your PC).

Did anyone else get "wormed"? hehehe.. I didn't because, it seems, I'm using Windows98. But my parents DID because they have WindowsXP. I spent a couple of hours last night, making a special trip home, to "fix" their worm-problem. The Blaster worm was forcing them to reboot after about 60 seconds of web surfing.

BE SURE TO READ THE INSTRUCTIONS ON THE MICROSOFT SITE ABOUT HOW TO PROTECT/CLEAN YOUR COMPUTER HERE . Also, BE SURE TO INSTALL A FREE FIREWALL like (mine) ZoneAlarm . It's the best on the free market.

If you're not sure if you're infected, you can SEARCH your files by clicking START, then SEARCH, then entering the worm-file name msblast.exe. This will show you if YOU HAVE WORMS!! Hope not.

Feel free to ask questions about this issue here. We're here to help if we can.

GOOD LUCK!!! Saludos, MadridMan

Wow! I pays to be a laggard! I too have Windows 98 and I checked my computer and nothing appeared with the term msblast.exe.

Thanks Antonio and MM for the info.

Gusanita

Browser hijackers and other spyware software can be even more dangerous than virii. Just read this week edition of SpywareInfo newsletter and this article at the New York Time.

You'd better use some anti-spyware software such as Spybot S&D .

Wide spread of virus/worm Klez.H

Although the Klez virus is already known, it seems there is a newer version Klez.H that is widely spreading around the net (I've already received 20 copies just today).

Update your antivirus and patch your Outlook/Internet Explorer to fix a vulnerability that lets Klez infects your computer just by previewing the e-mail.

Antonio, we all got hit hard at work, receiving about 15 emails with the virus attached. Here at home, throughout the day, I've gotten AT LEAST 50 so far but I check all email through POP MAIL on Yahoo so I don't risk infection. BUT I AM WELL DEFENDED (DAILY these days) on the latest Norton's Antivirus updates (4mb worth just today! ).

Dear Ladies and Gentleman:

IF you have received an email SEEMINGLY from me you probably haven't. I've gotten a few automated email replies from servers saying the email I've sent them contained a virus.

Today alone I've received more than 500 emails - ALL CONTAINING the "W32.Sobig.F@mm" virus. Each email's size is about 100kb and all have the following subject lines:

"Your Details"
"My Details"
"Details"
"That Movie"
"Thanks!"
"Thank You!"
"Wicked screensaver"
"Application"

The "SENDER" is never a person's name but rather an email address. Most of them I don't recognize but some are showing to be "from" some of the hostels in Madrid and others in Spain as well as other well-known companies around Spain. And in one case it was from a hostel in Salamanca (they own their own domain name) which I'd never heard of before - went to their dot.com and there it was! So it's not like I'm getting all these FROM people to whom I've written in the past but there is an obvious association (many are Spain-related) that is curious.

These things are RAMPANT!!!!! I'm checking the Symantic website for the Norton's AntiVirus Updates and there have been NEW UPDATES DAILY for the past 5 days!! I've been scanning my hard drive for viruses every other day and as recently as last night I was virus-free! (and have been for some time) Still, since I'm getting bombarded with this W32.Sobig.F@mm virus I'm checking (and replying with) my (madridman.com) POP mail through Yahoo, checking-off all the boxes next to the obvious virus-carrying emails and just deleting them there so they never reach my hard drive.

Is anyone else experiencing this? Let me/us know. And get this! One minute ago I got spammed (not virus) by a company SELLING Norton's AntiVirus software with the subject line "VIRUS UPDATE: Avoid the SoBig.f virus" so SOMEONE is aware this is going on in a big way if they're pushing their software NOW to guard against it.

Safe Computering To Everyone!

Saludos, MadridMan

And BOOM! Just like that. I heard a feature about this SoBig virus on the radio this morning mentioning the above subject lines - DON'T OPEN THESE! JUST DELETE THEM!!

Well, this time a huge massive infection has taken place. I've just have a look at the Spanish Alerta Antivirus website and it shows thousands of e-mails infected. Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to stop this e-mails from coming, unless you have the choice to put filter rules in your e-mail.

Again, remember to update you antivirus and apply all security patches to avoid possible vulnerabilities in Windows.

Also, disable the "preview" panel in Outlook as many viruses manage to infect the computer even if the attached file is not opened.

Madridman, Pair Networks has updated the junk-mail filtering rules to catch most of the SoBig worms. Read more about it here .