[Am-info] Goner worm spreads, tries to delete firewalls

[John J. Urbaniak]

Here's a tale:

I just returned from a major city in a Southwestern state (names withheld to
protect them from the wrath of Microsoft).

I installed my company's eCS-based Maintenance Management system for their
Wastewater Treatment Facility on a small peer network.

At first, their city's IT Dept was totally against the idea, but I guess it
was my personal charm and magnetism that finally convinced them to give it a
try (right!).

Anyway, working with their IT guys, we got fully connected to their NT
network and were up and running within fifteen minutes.  We were able to
access their Intranet via Netscape.  At the same time, our system functioned
perfectly on its small peer network.  The whole "Windows Thing" is a
complete non-issue.

Two days later, their entire network was down for almost a whole day -
except, of course for our system, which kept running flawlessly!

What happened was this:

Their IT guys got wind of this new virus/worm and decided to install some
new kind of protective software - I think it was called eProtect or
something like that.  Anyway, many of the machines on their network were
running Norton and McAfee virus protection systems.  This new thing was
totally incompatible with them and totally blew them out of the water.

I kept stressing to them that our system stayed up during this disaster
*because* it is not Windows.  They don't need Norton's or McAfee or eProtect
or anything else.

They listened, just a tiny bit more intently, but I'm sure they're still not
convinced.  Not to the extent that they are willing to try an eCS
environment elsewhere in their city.  But perhaps the next disaster they
have will open their eyes a bit more.

Once again, I can not express my disdain adequately for IBM and Lou
Gerstner, who surrendered the entire computing industry (for personal gain,
I believe), to the incompetents at Microsoft.  I can't believe the PC Press
continues to praise IBM for this act of treachery and betrayal.

But I'll just keep doing my small bit, one customer at a time.

John


madodel@ptdprolog.net wrote:

> More on Goner the Outlook-mIRC worm.
>
> From: Computerworld_Daily@Computerworld.com
>
> Goner worm spreads, tries to delete firewalls
>
> A new high-risk worm, called Goner, that attempts to delete a number of
> program files on infected computers, including firewall applications, is
> spreading quickly, according to several antivirus firms.
>
> http://computerworld.com/nlt/0%2C3590%2CNAV47_STO66307_NLTPM%2C00.htm
>
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