This newsletter is intended for people and companies interested in disaster recovery and is only sent to people who subscribe. Back issues are archived on our Web site (http://www.binomial.com). Sometimes, the emailed newsletter is truncated by your server because of its length. This current issue is now available at http://www.binomial.com.
Each month, we search through over thousands of articles to find information on disaster recovery planning, business continuity planning, and more.
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In this Issue:
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Ed Note:This is a guide which we find very useful.
The DISASTER RESOURCE GUIDE is a 156-page "One-Stop" GUIDE with thousands of resources for business continuity, crisis & emergency management and disaster recovery.
Included are educational articles as well information about products and services, industry associations, and government resources. The GUIDE is organized into four categories: Planning & Management, Information Technology & Telecommunications, Facility Issues, Crisis Communications & Response.
Email your request to: webmaster@disaster-resource.com
To receive a FREE copy you must include your name, your company, address,
telephone, fax, your job function and the business classification
(manufacturing, etc.) of your company/organization.
CNN reported that the FBI is meeting with a security company that says it discovered that hackers have planted a malicious program on some 2,000 commercial and home computers, government sources said. Network Security Technologies said the program targets computers using high-speed Internet connections, cable modems or corporate networks.
The program has a built-in defense mechanism which often allows it to pass undetected by a virus scanner. Once opened, the file infiltrates the computer, turns it into a "zombie" machine controlled by hackers.
It can then be used to launch a denial-of-service assault similar to the attacks earlier this year which affected some of the Web's most high-profile sites.
However, other large computer security firms, such as Network Associates and Symantec, have assessed this virus as being "low-risk" and say none of their customers have been affected by the virus.
A representative from Symantec -- whose firm represents 15 million computer users worldwide -- said the virus is not considered to be high risk by his company in part because it does not have the spreadability of viruses such as the love bug.
The hackers distribute a piece of malicious code, a "Trojan horse," disguised as a video clip or other downloadable file. If true, it would be the first time a malicious program was distributed using a movie file, which would indicate a new level of sophistication among hackers.
The National Infrastructure Protection Center, a division within the FBI, and the Washington field office of the FBI are doing preliminary analysis to determine the nature of the potential threat.
Experts said the latest potential threat demonstrated the growing vulnerability that computer users face as they begin to purchase permanent, high-speed connections to the Internet. Without special software to protect them, Internet surfers using cable modem and digital subscriber lines are easy prey.
Ed. Note: A denial of service attack is a merciless stream of information sent to a target with the intention of flooding it until it crashes or can no longer take legitimate traffic. Unlike most other hacks, it does not involve the attacker gaining access or entry into the targeted server.
Microsoft has announced the Outlook E-mail Security Update, a significant security enhancement to the Microsoft Outlook messaging and collaboration client. It is designed to thwart the spread and impact of many computer viruses -- including those similar to the "ILOVEYOU" and "Melissa" viruses. To provide a significantly improved level of security for Outlook users, this update limits certain functionality within Outlook: It prevents users from accessing certain e-mail attachments that could carry viruses and warns them if a program is trying to access their Outlook Address Book or send e-mail messages on their behalf. To download the new security enhancement free of charge, visit the Office Update Web site at: For up-to-the-minute information on important security updates for Outlook 98 and Outlook 2000 as well as e-mail virus protection, check the Office Update home page: The report of the U.S. federal panel set up to investigate the threat of domestic terrorism, entitled "Assessing the Threat," 121 pages. It is available in PDF format from the panel's Web site:
http://www.rand.org/organization/nsrd/terrpanel/terror.pdf (494K)
http://cryptome.org/tp-terr.htm (314K)
http://cryptome.org/tp-terr.zip (108K)
According to the 2000 "Computer Crime and Security Survey" compiled
by the Computer Security Institute (CSI) and the San Francisco
Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Computer Intrusion Squad,
NINETY PERCENT of the survey respondents detected computer security
breaches within the last twelve months.
We have scheduled several new dr seminars
(Business & Disaster Continuity Planning) will be in
Come and learn how to be ready for all disasters.
Attendees at all of our seminars learn all about dr, receive a full, registered version of our world-renown software system, Phoenix 2000a and each develop a disaster recovery plan for their own company. All attendees can also attend any future seminar for a small fee. The schedule and seminar content can be seen at www.binomial.com. Still a few seats left.
No, Windows is not a virus. Here's what viruses do: Three beggars were begging in New York City.
The first one wrote "beggar" on his broken steel cup and he
received ten bucks after one day.
The second one wrote "beggar.com" on his cup and after one day
he received hundreds of thousands of dollars. Someone even wanted
to take him to NASDAQ.
The third one wrote "e-beg" on his cup. Both IBM and HP sent
corporate vice-presidents to talk to him about a strategic
alliance and offered him free hardware and professional
consulting. In addition, Larry Ellison claimed on CNBC that
e-beg uses 95% Oracle technology and I2 announced
begTradeMatrix, a B2B industry portal offering supply chain
integration in the beggar community.
Check out the BOMB THREAT CHECK LIST on our website at www.binomial.com
We are pleased to announce the release of Phoenix 2000a, the latest version of our disaster recovery planning software system. A working demo version of this system is available for free download from http://www.binomial.com and upgrading to this version is free for all current customers. Send us an email requesting your upgrade.
This version of Phoenix has integrated the procedures and databases modules. The procedures module contains much more material that earlier versions. Phoenix can now be produced in many languages. Take a look and tell us what you think. Feedback is always welcome.
You will find links to DRP sites of interest at:
Links
Over 800 links are now listed here.
Interesting links may be found at:
www.fema.gov/fema/whatsnew.html
Also check www.colorado.edu/hazards/sites/sites.html
Also check www.colorado.edu/hazards/dr/currentdr.html
BINOMIAL Business/Disaster Recovery Planning Seminars
We have moved all of the events information to Events to save space in your email.
letter@binomial.com
TERRORIST PANEL REPORT
HOW VULNERABLE IS YOUR COMPUTER NETWORK?
NEXT BCP SEMINAR WILL BE IN LAS VEGAS, THEN CHICAGO, THEN TEXAS, THEN CHICAGO, THEN . . .
IS WINDOWS A VIRUS ?
Until now it seems, Windows is a virus but there are fundamental differences: Viruses are well supported by their authors, are running on most systems, their program code is fast, compact and efficient and they tend to become more sophisticated as they mature.
So, Windows is *not* a virus!
OPPORTUNITY KNOCKING
BOMB THREAT CHECK LIST
PHOENIX 2000a
LINKS TO DRP SITES OF INTEREST
EVENTS
SEMINAR DATES & LOCATIONS
LAS VEGAS
October
3-5
2000
CHICAGO
October
17-19
2000
AUSTIN, TEXAS
October-November
31-2
2000
CHICAGO
December
5-7
2000
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