E-mail Virus of the Month
"Nimda" Virus Classified "High Risk"

Ask the Help Desk
Why Do I Get An Error Message When Hitting The "Back" Button?

Sites of the Month
Great Sites To Check Out In October!

Short Tutorial
A Short-Cut For Adding Addresses To Your Address Book

Dear Netlink Customer,

Our thoughts and prayers go out for the victims and their families in last month's terrorist attack on the United States. We encourage each of our subscribers to stand united with us in our resolve to defeat those entities whose desire is to take away the rights and liberties guaranteed to Americans by our great Constitution. Do what you can to help fellow Americans whenever possible. (We've included several resources in our "Great Sites of the Month" section below.) Also, pray for the wisdom of and the protection for our government leaders and our armed forces. May God continue to bless America!

Now, back to business. We think you'll find the information contained in this newsletter to be a valuable tool for enhancing your Internet experience. If, however, you'd prefer not to receive these bulletins on a monthly basis, click HERE and make sure "Remove" is typed in the subject line.

To see what's inside this issue, take a look at the index to the left and thanks for reading!

- The Netlink Team

E-Mail Virus - "Nimda" Virus Classified "High Risk"

WHO CAN GET INFECTED: The discovery of the "Nimda" virus ("admin" spelled backwards) on September 18, 2001 has led many anti-virus software companies to classify this worm as "high risk." People utilizing Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, NT and ME along with Internet Explorer 5.01 - 5.5 and Outlook or Outlook Express should seriously consider obtaining anti-virus scanning software if they have not already done so. Netscape users are not affected unless they open the executable Nimda attachment of an e-mail. Macintosh users are not affected although the virus can be unintentionally spread by the user forwarding the infected e-mail.

Early rumors suggested the worm might be part of a terrorist conspiracy. However, FBI experts have found NO RELATIONSHIP between the spread of this worm and last month's terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The timing of the virus appears to be coincidental.

WARNING: The infected e-mail worm may arrive in a recipient's inbox showing a file named "README.EXE" attached to it. However, README.EXE may NOT BE VISIBLE as an attachment by the e-mail recipient. The name of the attachment varies. Therefore, the recipient may not even initially be aware that his/her computer has been infected.

HOW TO KNOW IF YOU HAVE THE VIRUS: If you have the Nimda virus, you will notice files named ADMIN.DLL on your drives. There will likely be a large number of .EML files typically (but not always) named README.EML or DESKTOP.EML in most if not all of your folders. There may also be open network shares that you did not open.

HERE'S HOW IT WORKS: The Nimda worm is especially difficult to stop because Internet users can become infected simply by reviewing the infected e-mail message within their Preview Pane of Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express ... without even opening the accompanying attachment! The worm then replicates itself and attempts to infect not only those e-mail addresses listed in your Address Book, but those e-mail addresses found in your forwarded e-mail messages, etc. Nimda is also capable of spreading through IRC, a common online chat format, as well as when exchanging information using FTP.

In addition, the worm is suspected of having the ability to "spoof" regarding the sender of the infected e-mail message. As an example, your "From:" box may show that the infected message was sent by your friend Ben, when actually it was sent (unknowingly) by your friend, Jake.

The Nimda worm can also be spread simply by visiting an infected web server (website). If that's not enough, the worm has also been known to create open network shares, thereby allowing remote access to your computer by unauthorized users. This access can compromise the integrity of your passwords, personal data, and more.

Nimda is a "High Risk" worm. Be sure to protect your computer by updating your anti-virus scanning software on a regular basis.

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Ask The Help Desk - Why Do I Get An Error Message When Hitting The "Back" Button?

Question: Why Do I Get An Error Message When Hitting The "Back" Button?

Answer: Sometimes as you are browsing the Web and hit the "Back" button, you get an error message telling you the previous page has expired. Did the page actually expire in the twenty seconds since you were just there? It's not likely. The reason the error occurred is probably because the previous page was dependent on some sort of outside information you provided or was generated by some sort of script. As an example, going "back" to a previous page when making an online transaction may cause you to accidentally order something twice. To prevent this from happening, a merchant's site may disallow you from going back to a prior page by showing the "Expired Error" message. Hitting the "Refresh" button, however, should allow you to re-post the information and reload the page.

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Great Sites to Check Out This Month

Donate To New York City Firefighters' Families Fund
http://daily.iaff.org/fund.htm - All money donated to the "New York Firefighters 9-11 Disaster Relief Fund" goes directly to the families of the fallen firefighters and EMS personnel in New York City. This fund is the only one directly affiliated with the IAFF, Uniformed Firefighters Association of New York, Local 94 and the New York Uniformed Fire Officer Association, Local 854. Donate securely online.

The Salvation Army's Crisis Response Emergency Website
http://www.redshield.org/crisis - The Salvation Army was on the scene in Washington D.C. and New York City within an hour of the terrorist attacks providing assistance via their disaster canteens. They continue to provide counseling centers for family members and relief workers. Donate securely online.

New York State World Trade Center Relief Fund
http://www.helping.org/ - New York Governor George Pataki urges concerned Americans who wish to support the World Trade Center emergency response and victim support efforts to make a contribution to the recently established New York State World Trade Center Relief Fund. Donate securely online.

Federal Emergency Management Agency
http://www.fema.gov - This site provides daily updated information regarding the recovery efforts in both New York City and Washington, D.C. The site also contains practical steps to take if a disaster were to strike near you, i.e. flood, tornado, earthquake, hurricane, etc.

Donate Today To Your Local Red Cross
http://redcross.org - Join the more than four million Americans who gave blood last year by contacting your nearest Red Cross Chapter. Tax-deductible donations are also being accepted by local chapters which can be earmarked for the New York City, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania recovery and relief efforts.

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Short Tutorial - A Short-Cut For Adding Addresses To Your Address Book

Here's a short-cut to save an e-mail address into your Address Book. To save a sender's e-mail address after receiving their mail, simply:

Right-click your cursor arrow on the sender's name (found in the "From" header).

Choose "Add To Address Book" from the resulting pop-up menu and a Contact Card within your Address Book will appear.

The header information (e-mail address and name) will automatically appear in the proper fields of the Contact Card. Add additional information in the remaining fields of the Contact Card.

Click your cursor arrow on the "OK" button. This will save the e-mail/contact information permanently in your Address Book.

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I hope you found this newsletter to be informative. It's our way of keeping you posted on the happenings at our shop. If, however, you'd prefer not to receive these bulletins on a monthly basis, click HERE and make sure "Remove" is typed in the subject line.

Thanks for your business!

Best regards

Mike Huggenberger
Director Netlink
Great Plains Communications Netlink

Š2001 Cornerstone Publishing Group Inc.