Content Technologies MAILsweeper Stops WM97/Resume-A Word Macro Threat at the Gateway; MAILsweeper Empowers Customers to Manage Own Configuration Without Having to Wait for a Fix.Business Editors, Technology Writers KIRKLAND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 30, 2000 Content Technologies MAILsweeper can be configured directly by the customer to help prevent the dangerous new WM97/Resume-A macro virus A virus that is written in a macro language and placed within a document. Viruses have to be "run" in order to do things. When the document is opened and the macro is executed, commands in the macro language do the destruction or the prank. Thankfully, most viruses are harmless. . The WM97/Resume-A threat identified on Friday evening (US time) was obviously intended to cause chaos over the weekend, but once again users protected by AV tools had to wait for a fix to be posted on web sites. Content Technologies customers however, were able to configure MAILsweeper themselves as soon as they were aware of this new macro. Once MAILsweeper customers had identified the message subject and body text, they could simply access the "text analyzer" (version 4) or "lexical analysis (programming) lexical analysis - (Or "linear analysis", "scanning") The first stage of processing a language. The stream of characters making up the source program or other input is read one at a time and grouped into lexemes (or "tokens") - word-like pieces such as keywords, " (version 3) in MAILsweeper and input the identifying words or phrases to be detected. This meant they could quickly and simply change the MAILsweeper configuration to find the threat. The suspect e-mail containing the virus could then be quarantined or deleted at the gateway depending on their company policy. Chris Heslop, international director of marketing for Content technologies said: "We've had a multitude of threats, in quick succession recently and this has really put customers with AV tools in a `hands tied' position. While they were waiting for an AV vendor fix to appear on the web, they probably had to shut down their server as their only form of protection. This is obviously an extreme measure." "At Content Technologies, we believe in empowering customers to take full control of their content security at the gateway so they can defend themselves quickly from all types of threats, not just viruses. With this new threat, MAILsweeper customers could act immediately without having to wait for a fix to appear. This meant they could protect the company on their terms and in their timeframe," he added. There's an old Chinese Old Chinese (Simplified Chinese: 上古汉语; Traditional Chinese: 上古漢語; Pinyin: proverb proverb, short statement of wisdom or advice that has passed into general use. More homely than aphorisms, proverbs generally refer to common experience and are often expressed in metaphor, alliteration, or rhyme, e.g. that says: `Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.' Content Technologies believe in providing our customers with direct control of the tools they need to support their Content Security policy, both now and for when the next threat hits. About WM97/Resume-A This is a dangerous new Word Macro virus A virus written into a macro that is stored in a Word document or template. There are more than 30 different kinds of this virus. When the document is opened, the macro is executed and the virus does its damage. that uses e-mail as a replication mechanism. This can be stopped using MAILsweeper Version 3 and Version 4. The subject and body text comprises of common resume phrases. The subject line is generally "Resume - Janet Simons" and the message text comprises of "Attached is my resume with a list of references contained within. Please feel free to call or email me if you have any further questions regarding my experience. I am looking forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, Janet Simons." The payload (1) Refers to the "actual data" in a packet or file minus all headers attached for transport and minus all descriptive meta-data. In a network packet, headers are appended to the payload for transport and then discarded at their destination. of this virus is to delete files in the following directories: C:\, C:\My Documents, C:\WINDOWS, C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM, C:\WINNT See Windows NT. , C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32, A:\, B:\, D:\, and then all drives through to, and including, Z:\. It also installs itself into C:\WINDOWS\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\Explorer.doc so that it is opened on startup on some systems. About Content Technologies Content Technologies is a leading developer of Internet content security and Policy Management solutions. MIMEsweeper, launched in 1995, was the first product on the market to scan e-mail and attachments for content threats. The MIMEsweeper family has since become a leading solution for content security, providing organisations with content security and Policy Management defences against business and network integrity threats. These threats include misuse of e-mail and the Web, confidentiality breaches, exposure to e-mail legal liability, junk e-mail See spam. , spam and spoofing (1) Faking the sending address of a transmission in order to gain illegal entry into a secure system. See e-mail spoofing. (2) Creating fake responses or signals in order to keep a session active and prevent timeouts. , as well as e-mail-borne viruses. Content Technologies recently launched MAILsweeper for SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) The standard e-mail protocol on the Internet and part of the TCP/IP protocol suite, as defined by IETF RFC 2821. SMTP defines the message format and the message transfer agent (MTA), which stores and forwards the mail. Version 4.1. This comprehensive policy-based content security solution enables companies to implement and manage policies to combat key business security threats posed by the Internet. The company also launched SECRETsweeper, content management of encrypted e-mail, and e-Sweeper, a content security solution for Service Providers and their customers. Over 6,000 customers and six million users world-wide use Content Technologies MIMEsweeper family of content security solutions. The family of solutions includes MAILsweeper for SMTP, SECRETsweeper, MAILsweeper for Microsoft Exchange Messaging and groupware software for Windows from Microsoft. Exchange Server is an Internet-compliant e-mail system that runs under Windows NT/2000 and Windows Server 2003. It can be accessed by Web browsers, the Exchange client, versions of Outlook and the earlier Windows Inbox. , WEBsweeper, MIMEsweeper for Firewall-1, MIMEsweeper for Domino and e-Sweeper. Content Technologies is headquartered in the UK with additional offices across the USA (Seattle, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , Boston and Washington DC), as well as in France, Germany, Australia and Japan. The MIMEsweeper family is sold both direct and through select reseller channels made up of VARs, systems integrators and Internet Service Providers Internet service provider (ISP) Company that provides Internet connections and services to individuals and organizations. For a monthly fee, ISPs provide computer users with a connection to their site (see data transmission), as well as a log-in name and password. . For additional information, call 0118 930 1300, or visit the Web site at http://www.contenttechnologies.com All names and trademarks are recognized and acknowledged. |
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