SYSTEMS UPDATE Vol. 22 No. 4 JUL/AUG 2003 issue

SOPHOS HOAXES & VIRUSES
SOPHOS PARTNERS' MEETING
IDENTIFYING VIRUS HOTSPOTS
DOING REMOTE DEMOS
3COM RESELLER CONFERENCE IN YANGON
NETSWIFT iGATE SUPPORTS ORACLE 9i

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1. SOPHOS HOAXES & VIRUSES

TOP TEN VIRUSES AND HOAXES REPORTED TO SOPHOS IN JULY 2003

This is the latest in a series of monthly charts counting down the ten most frequently occurring viruses and hoaxes as compiled by Sophos, a global leader in anti-virus protection for businesses.

For July 2003, the virus chart is as follows, with the most frequently occurring virus at number one:

Position Virus Percentage of Reports

1 W32/Sobig-E (Sobig variant) 47.8% NEW ENTRY

2 W32/Bugbear-B (Bugbear variant) 11.0%

3 W32/Klez-H (Klez variant) 5.9% 18 months in chart

4 W32/Sobig (Sobig worm) 2.7%

5= W32/Paite-B (Parite variant) 0.9% NEW ENTRY

5= W32/Sobig-B (Sobig variant) 0.9%

7 W32/Ganda-A (Ganda worm) 0.8% NEW ENTRY

8= W32/Opaserv-G (Opaserv variant) 0.7%

8= W32/Sobig-D (Sobig variant) 0.7% NEW ENTRY

8= W95/Dupator (Dupator worm) 0.7% NEW ENTRY

Others 27.9%

The top ten hoaxes reported to Sophos during July 2003 are as follows:

Postiion Hoax Percentage of reports

1 Bill Gates Fortune 14.1% NEW ENTRY

2 JDBGMGR 12.1%

3 Hotmail Hoax 10.8%

4 Meninas da Playboy 10.0%

5 Bonsai Kitten 5.9%

6 Budweiser frogs screensaver 4.7%

7 Free Flight 3.5%

8= Frog in a blender/Fish in a bowl 3.4%

8= Virtual card for you 3.4%

10 WTC Survivor 2.7%

Others 29.4%

See http://www.sysdgn.com.sg/newsletter/0308/sophos.html

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2. SOPHOS PARTNERS' MEETING

Sophos held its annual partners’ meeting in Bangkok on 17-18 July at Dusit Thani Hotel. Gilbert Tan from Systems Design attended the conference. The purpose is to create a forum for open discussion and sharing of experience selling Sophos Anti-Virus in Asia. Key staff from Sophos head office including sales, marketing, product management and technical were available to share the company’s direction with the participants.

See http//www.sysdgn.com.sg/newsletter/0308/sophospartnersmeeting.html

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3. IDENTIFYING VIRUS HOTSPOTS

With the many virus attacks lately, it will be rather interesting to find out the hotspots around the world. Topping the list is Romania, followed by South Korea. The chart is based on the number of alerts received by Sophos PLC between 01/07/1999 and 18/07/2003.

See http//www.sysdgn.com.sg/newsletter/0308/virushotspots.html

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4. DOING REMOTE DEMOS

When the application software runs on Linux, doing a remote demo was easy. All it takes is a PC connected to a projector and a terminal emulation package. This is for the data portion. The voice portion can be any dialed up line. Both ends can be on speaker phone. The method use for Windows environment is to use PCAnywhere. That means both ends have the PCAnywhere software. One end will be the host whilst the dial-in end will be the remote.

However, with the availability of Internet, a different way of connecting is made possible. There are some software available like Citrix or Webinar that allows data to be streamed over the Internet. The host has to “share” out his software directory before the remote user can log in. The Internet basically act as a fast pipe. Whatever is displayed on the host PC is very quickly transferred over to the remote PC. Usually the voice portion is carried on a different phone line for better quality. As most organizations now have a fast link to Internet, this is becoming a very popular way to do remote demos.

There are a few pointers to note. Most firewalls are not configured to open certain IP ports. To do such demos, some of these ports have to be opened. One good thing about such connectivity through Internet is the speed. It is so much faster than PCAnywhere.

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5. 3COM CONFERENCE IN YANGON

3Com is holding its Reseller Conference at Park Royal Grand Plaza in Yangon, Myanmar on 2-5 Oct 2003. The four day experience is packed with fun and education into a timely beauty of Myanmar. It is one of the last remaining places where a glimpse of old can be caught – of men and women in traditional longyis walking beside golden pagodas and dilapidated colonial buildings.

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6. NETSWIFT iGATE SUPPORTS ORACLE 9i

Oracle’s e-Business Suite of solutions, leveraging the scalability of the Oracle 9i database server, delivers on today’s expectations of a completely integrated efficient enterprise. Building successful relationships with clients, improving your business processes and empowering employees with the information to make strategic decisions all revolves around the efficient enterprise. Ensuring the information is available to the right people at the right times requires a commitment to privacy and protection in addition to a strong infrastructure. While Oracle delivers the information, NetSwift iGate offers the access control and overall security that your data requires.

See http://www.sysdgn.com.sg/newsletter/0308/netswiftigate.html

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