computer virus on windows sytems sent through outlook

Boston

the other day i recieved an email warning me that i was infected with a computer virus, from a person who had sent me a mail somedays before. she said that it was a virsu sent out to everyone in her contact list, it lies dormant for afew days then activates itself and wipes your system, curopting windows files.
i searched for the file name given and delted the .exe file

now this email had no attachments and i didnt click anything out of the normal, i had allways been upder the mistaken impression you had to allow a virus into your system, buy acepting an attachment.

why question is how exactly did this virus manage to get onto my system, through a normal email without me doing anything out of the way with it. it seems remakable to me.

A message that was recently forwrded to me explained that a virus was

spread to my computer, and it is likely that it has been passed to yours

because you are in my address book (which is basically anyone who has

ever sent me an email.) The virus stays dormant for 14 days, then opens

itself and can damage your computer. Below are directions for searching

for and removing the virus if you have it. I followed them and found it

so there is a good chance that you have it too.



Sorry for the inconvenience. Be sure to get rid of the virus as soon as

you open this email. Sorry again!





Remove the virus by following these steps:



1. Go to "Start." Then to "Find" or "Search"

(depending on your computer.)



2. In the "Search for files or folders" type

sulfnbk.exe -- this is the name of the virus.



3. In the "Look in" section, make sure you are

searching Drive C.



4. Hit "Search" or "Find."



5. If your search finds this file, it will be an ugly

blackish icon that will have the name sulfnbk.exe.

DO NOT OPEN IT! If it does not show up on your

first "Search," try a "New Search."



6. Right click on the file -- go down to "Delete" and

left click.



7. You will be asked if you want to send the file to

the Recycling Bin--say "Yes."



8. Go to your Desktop (where all your icons are) and

right click on the Recycle Bin and either manually delete

the sulfnbk.exe program or empty the entire bin.



9. If you found the virus on your system, send this

or a similar e-mail to all in your address book

because this is how it is transferred.

GoneShootin

voila :

This hoax warns against a virus contained in a file called SULFNBK.EXE, that arrives hidden in an email message.
SULFNBK.EXE is a Windows System file that is installed in the Windows Command folder when the Windows Operating System is installed. Therefore, the presence of this file does not necessarily mean a system is infected.

SULFNBK.EXE is a utility used to restore long file names on the Start menu, when it is replaced with MS-DOS-compatible (short) file names in 8.3 format. For example, the Accessories folder on the Start menu may be displayed as "Access~1" if the SULFNBK utility is not installed.

This file is not destructive or malicious, but it can be infected with a virus and could be mass mailed. The virus PE_MAGISTR.A. is capable of using the SULFNBK.EXE file to propagate. If you receive an email with the attachment SULFNBK.EXE there is a possibility that the file is infected.

http://www.antivirus.com/vinfo/hoaxes/hoax5.asp?HName=SULFNBK+Hoax

MarcusGarvey

Outlook has some bug in the way it handles mime types and someone can in fact send you a an exe attachment with a cleverly coded email that will run it if you preview or open the email. Fairly nasty it is. You don;t need to open the attachment to get done over.

You can get a patch for Outlook to fix this.

mayhem#

Can you spell HOAX....?

MarcusGarvey

Technically speaking its no longer a hoax as there is an exe going around now called that which contains a virus and spreads using outlook. Not very well programmed so it didn't mass infect but its still there now.

beomont

Not sure if you lads are wide to this but there was a piece in pc-format :
The chap reckoned if you put a new entry into your addy book(Outlook),but only put a name in and not an email address.This would cause an error a would be unable to do it's job

mayhem#

Originally posted by beomont
Not sure if you lads are wide to this but there was a piece in pc-format :
The chap reckoned if you put a new entry into your addy book(Outlook),but only put a name in and not an email address.This would cause an error a would be unable to do it's job

Let me get this right:
If I create a new record in my adress book with a name but no e-mail address it would cause an error?
Don't think so mate...

Occidental

A few things to clear up here.

Sulfnbk.exe warnings are a hoax. It is a valid Windows file and should not be deleted.

Magistr virus can infect the sulfnbk.exe file, but any decent virus checker will detect Magistr and provide removal instructions.

A name with no e-mail address in Outlook will prevent nothing

The following has being doing the rounds for a few months and is also complete sh!te:

Everyone,

I learned a computer trick today that's really ingenious in its simplicity. I can't make any guarantees since
technology changes daily, but it sounds as if it's worth looking into.

As you may know, when/if a worm virus gets into your computer it heads straight for your email address
book and sends itself to everyone in there, thus infecting all your friends and associates. This trick
won't keep the virus from getting into your computer, but it will stop it from using your address book
to spread further, and it will alert you to the fact that the worm has entered into your system.

Here's what you do: first, open your address book and click on "new contact" just as you would do if
you were adding a new contact to your list of email addresses.

In the window where you would type your contact's first name, type in !000
(that's an exclamation mark followed by 3 zeros). In the window below where it prompts you
 to enter the new email address, type in WormAlert. Then complete everything by clicking
add, enter, ok, etc.

Now, here's what you've done and why it works: the "name" !000 will be placed at the top of your address
book as entry #1. This will be where the worm will start in an effort to send itself to all your contacts.
But when it tries to send itself to !000, it will be undeliverable because of the phony email address you entered
(WormAlert). If the first attempt fails (which it will because of the phony address), the worm goes no
further and your contacts will not be infected.

Here's the second great advantage of this method: if an email cannot be delivered, you will be notified of this in your
InBox almost immediately. Hence, if you ever get an email telling you that an email
addressed to WormAlert could not be delivered, you know right away that you have the worm virus in your system.
You can then take steps with an antivirus program to get rid of it!