Re: [Paddlewise] Bugbear worm warning

From: James W. Durkin <jwd_at_phonogram.net>
Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2002 23:17:26 -0500
On Tue, Oct 01, 2002 at 12:12:09PM -0500, Chuck Holst wrote:

> WARNING: Norton Antivirus informs me that messages from the following 
> people in today's Paddlewise mail all contained the W32.Bugbear worm, 
> apparently in an attachment (I didn't open the messages):

Just to be completely clear about this, mail submitted to the
Paddlewise list, and distributed from there out to the list's
subscribers, will not carry an attached virus of any form whatsoever.
That this is the case is a by-product of the scripts used (or, more
correctly, one script in particular) to run the list.  The moderator
can confirm this.

What is referred to above as "Paddlewise mail" is (I believe)
including all mail with the "[Paddlewise]" prefix in the Subject:
header.  Such mail can come from sources other than the list server
itself.  It could be legitimate private mail from a fellow list
subscriber that simply maintains the Subject: header of a message
originating in the list.  Or it could be, as is the case of the
worm-ridden mail in question, something else entirely.

If you wish to filter messages originating on the Paddlewise server
into a separate folder, then your filter, if it is to operate
reliably, needs to trigger on the following message header:

  Sender: owner-paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net

Simply filtering based on "[Paddlewise]" in the Subject: header won't
do the trick.

The point of the above being, that PaddleWise and other properly run
lists don't spread viruses, worms, or other vermin.  And to provide a
definitive method of filtering this list's mail, if you wish to do so
(the definite part stems from Paddlewise being a Majordomo
administered list, and the Sender: header being that software's
"header signature").

Pardon the non-kayak-related technical aside, but I thought it might
allay some potential fears and inform the curious.

-.- jwd
***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed
here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire
responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author.
Submissions:     PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net
Subscriptions:   PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net
Website:         http://www.paddlewise.net/
***************************************************************************
Received on Wed Oct 02 2002 - 04:47:28 PDT

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:31:00 PDT