Poll: Have you been been hit with the RPC worm?

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Derango

Diamond Member
Jan 1, 2002
3,113
1
0
I didn't get it, but I did get a different virus earlier this week...grrrr.... some IRC trojan thing. I ended up reinstalling windows.
 

hopeless879

Senior member
Mar 4, 2002
900
0
0
Originally posted by: FoBoT
the MS windows update site is getting HAMMERED, i have never seen it this slow, billions of people must be downloading years worth of patches/service packs

funny how so many complain about MS security, but don't bother to take advantage of the patches they supply

hmmmm.....

People complain about MS security because of things like this. There should never be a hole like this in the system to begin with. It makes me sick to think that you have to pay $300 for a product that is full of security holes and that must be updated weekly if not daily. I'm sick of people saying it's the end-users fault that they got it, the blame lies squarely on MS.
 

Derango

Diamond Member
Jan 1, 2002
3,113
1
0
Originally posted by: hopeless879
Originally posted by: FoBoT
the MS windows update site is getting HAMMERED, i have never seen it this slow, billions of people must be downloading years worth of patches/service packs

funny how so many complain about MS security, but don't bother to take advantage of the patches they supply

hmmmm.....

People complain about MS security because of things like this. There should never be a hole like this in the system to begin with. It makes me sick to think that you have to pay $300 for a product that is full of security holes and that must be updated weekly if not daily. I'm sick of people saying it's the end-users fault that they got it, the blame lies squarely on MS.

Security holes can and will happen. There's an insane amount of code in windows and to think that code doesn't contain a bug that was overlooked doesn't make sense.

However, I do agree with you that this one is pretty bad, and definitly should have been somthing that was caught before this. I mean, it affects windows NT, thats like...old... :)
 

stonecold3169

Platinum Member
Jan 30, 2001
2,060
0
76
I think people need to stop being so hard of MS for this kind of stuff... coders/scripters ALWAYS have an advantage, as they can look at something that is already built, and only need to find one downfall... MS, on the other hand, needs to prepare for hundreds of thousands of thing, things so unlikely to ever happen, but COULD... when you look at the percentage of things that they catch versus don't catch, you would be amazed.

Also, 'nix has tons of security holes too, you just hear about it less frequently on this level because so few end users run it (comparatively).
 

Derango

Diamond Member
Jan 1, 2002
3,113
1
0
'nix does have lots of holes too, but in the case of most linux and open source apps, they're fixed within 24 hours, and most of the admins who run 'nix systems update them to cover security flaws and stuff.
 

Lonyo

Lifer
Aug 10, 2002
21,938
6
81
Originally posted by: stonecold3169
I think people need to stop being so hard of MS for this kind of stuff... coders/scripters ALWAYS have an advantage, as they can look at something that is already built, and only need to find one downfall... MS, on the other hand, needs to prepare for hundreds of thousands of thing, things so unlikely to ever happen, but COULD... when you look at the percentage of things that they catch versus don't catch, you would be amazed.

Also, 'nix has tons of security holes too, you just hear about it less frequently on this level because so few end users run it (comparatively).

I was already covered, I guess it was in soem update or other (Win2k, SP4, updated a few weeks back).

It's the users fault.
It wasn't until now that hackers began large scale exploitation, but for me, it was already covered by MS. Well done them for once.

Or, my PC is magic.
I had no virus scanner/firewall, so it was all in whatever MS updated.
 

stonecold3169

Platinum Member
Jan 30, 2001
2,060
0
76
Originally posted by: Derango
'nix does have lots of holes too, but in the case of most linux and open source apps, they're fixed within 24 hours, and most of the admins who run 'nix systems update them to cover security flaws and stuff.

The last part is really what I was going for in my last post, actually. I didn't want to offend anyone here, but TYPICALLY (not always) in my experiance, admins for 'nix systems tend to be much more intelligent/dedicated to their job then windows users. 3/4 (likely much higher) of the issues people have on windows machines have been fixed in previous critical updates, service packs, etc, or can be caught with a common antivirus (like AVG). Somethign that helps the 'nix end user is that since you typically downloadthe ISOs for them, they can constantly be recompiled and redistributed, so that when you download you always get the newest, most up to date, secure package. Many people I know reinstal windows, never get the patches, and then get pissy when something hits them... it's their own fault.

In conclusion, I agree with you Derango... and as a side note, I'm a CS major, and am definitely not trashing on 'nix at all. I run winXP, Gentoo, and freeBSD on my system (thats 2/3 nix right there :p) ... I just don't like seeing people trounce down MS. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't have all the fun hardware we have now :p
 

IamElectro

Golden Member
Jul 15, 2003
1,470
0
76
Safe here, but my router logs have been showing port scans on 135,139 at the rate of 30 or so per hour.
 

ProviaFan

Lifer
Mar 17, 2001
14,993
1
0
No, I have not been hit (ICF saved my ass, and though I'd forgotten to patch for a few months, I'm all up to date now). All of my family (that I know of) use Windows 98 or Me, so they shouldn't be getting hit with it. As for my friends... what friends? You expect me, an introverted self-proclaimed geek, to have friends? OTOH, I'm sure some of my parents' friends and people from church who use WinXP (and AFAIK none of them patch anything worth sh!t) who know that I am somewhat computer-knowledgeable will have the phone ringing constantly wondering WTF their computer is rebooting.
rolleye.gif
 

MuffD

Diamond Member
May 31, 2000
6,027
0
0
First we got hit with an email virus last week and now this worm got us at work as well.
 

bcterps

Platinum Member
Aug 31, 2000
2,795
0
76
Just another good reason to run a firewall. I update religiously so I wouldnt have been affected, but I'm gonna check my router logs when I get home to see what kind of hits I've been getting.

Has anyone running a firewall been hit by this? I would imagine any firewall should have stopped this cold.
 

MuffD

Diamond Member
May 31, 2000
6,027
0
0
I was not hit at home, just at work. For as big a company I work for, you would think it would be a little more secure.
 

dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
26,066
4,712
126
Originally posted by: slag
I haven't and frankly, I dont see how others have.
Anyone , either SA or home user, who is worth a sh|t should be checking for patches on a weekly basis and updating their virus scanners weekly as well.
"Emergencies" like this bother me since they shouldnt even be happening in the first place.
Take this as an example. A computer was no longer in use (employee left) and another employee needed a good upgrade and that computer was a perfect match. I formatted it and installed Win XP Pro all with the the ethernet cable unplugged. When that was all set up, I plugged in the cable and immediately downloaded Zone Alarm (the free firewall). The whole download process took less than a minute. But it was too late, the computer was already hit. You think I should be to blame for this user error? That is how it happens to others. Now Zone Alarm is burned onto a CD so this won't happen again. Still even being that cautious with a firewall and a good up to date virus scanner, anyone could be hit.
 

FoBoT

No Lifer
Apr 30, 2001
63,084
15
81
fobot.com
Originally posted by: dullard
Originally posted by: slag
I haven't and frankly, I dont see how others have.
Anyone , either SA or home user, who is worth a sh|t should be checking for patches on a weekly basis and updating their virus scanners weekly as well.
"Emergencies" like this bother me since they shouldnt even be happening in the first place.
Take this as an example. A computer was no longer in use (employee left) and another employee needed a good upgrade and that computer was a perfect match. I formatted it and installed Win XP Pro all with the the ethernet cable unplugged. When that was all set up, I plugged in the cable and immediately downloaded Zone Alarm (the free firewall). The whole download process took less than a minute. But it was too late, the computer was already hit. You think I should be to blame for this user error? That is how it happens to others. Now Zone Alarm is burned onto a CD so this won't happen again. Still even being that cautious with a firewall and a good up to date virus scanner, anyone could be hit.

there should be a firewall (hardware) between the internut and your "network cable" that you plugged into the newly built PC. zone alarm (software firewall on the SAME box) doesn't cut it , as your example demonstrates
 

ProviaFan

Lifer
Mar 17, 2001
14,993
1
0
Originally posted by: FoBoT
there should be a firewall (hardware) between the internut and your "network cable" that you plugged into the newly built PC. zone alarm (software firewall on the SAME box) doesn't cut it , as your example demonstrates
You're misreading his example. He is stating not that ZoneAlarm failed, but that he got hit so quickly that the system was compromized before he could even get ZoneAlarm installed.
 

dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
26,066
4,712
126
Originally posted by: FoBoT
there should be a firewall (hardware) between the internut and your "network cable" that you plugged into the newly built PC. zone alarm (software firewall on the SAME box) doesn't cut it , as your example demonstrates
Sadly it is a university. The whole servers are all overrun by hackers and there is nothing that I can do about it.