DID A DUMB THING... What is this? Worm.Automat.AHB

[Avery]

Before you read this, you should know that I have up-to-
date virus-protection, and I ran a security check for
viruses, as well as checking the most current virus list
(and found that while "AHC" and "AHD" are listed, "AHB"
is not). I don't know what to do now. Here's what
happened:

I received an e-mail from: (e-mail address removed);
addressed to: (e-mail address removed); with the
attachment: hxhci.exe
I didn't open the attachment, I just "looked" at
the "frames" message, and suddenly this window-alert to
appeared:
________________________
"Norton AntiVirus has detected a virus on your computer.

Object name: (whole string of characters starting with
C/Documents/Applications, and on and on -- I can't "copy
and paste")

Virus Name: Worm.Automat.AHB

Action Taken: Unable to repair this file."
______________________________________

WHAT DO I DO NOW? What happened here?

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: This e-mail was one of ten I
received from "Microsoft" or "Network Security
Department" or "MS Technical Bulletin" -- all showing up
in my "Bulk" mail (where I usually don't get anything at
all...), all about 150 KB, and all with strange
attachments, like "q391875.exe" and "install4.exe"
and "pack116.exe" (I didn't even think about opening
those).

YESSSSSS... I know I should have checked with people
like you before I "looked" at the frames message. Hey,
it's the first really dumb thing I've done on my computer
since I got it last year!

Anyway, if it's just a matter of this one file being
corrupted, can I just delete it? If all of these e-mails
are really from some spammer, is there a protocol I
should use to report this? I've tried contacting MSN
support and Symantec, but they haven't given me any
useful information yet.
Signed: Avery (old dog, learning new tricks too slowly).
PS: back on the 13th, one of you fellows suggested that I
have someone come over and help me with technical stuff --
trouble is, a) I can't invite any guys over to this
bachelorette's "dive;" and b) I'm always winding up in
these situations in the middle of the night.

 

[Nicholas]

Ignore Norton's warning about not being able to repair
that file. It's the virus file itself that Norton can't repair.
Simply delete the file. Your computer is not infected.

Please take a moment to read the following articles:

Information on Bogus Microsoft Security Bulletin E-mails
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/security/news/patch_hoax.asp

How to Tell If a Microsoft Security-Related Message Is Genuine
http://www.microsoft.com/security/antivirus/authenticate_mail.asp

How to Trim the "Spam" from Your E-Mail Diet
http://www.microsoft.com/security/articles/spam.asp


--
Nicholas

----------------------------------------------------------------------


| Before you read this, you should know that I have up-to-
| date virus-protection, and I ran a security check for
| viruses, as well as checking the most current virus list
| (and found that while "AHC" and "AHD" are listed, "AHB"
| is not). I don't know what to do now. Here's what
| happened:
|
| I received an e-mail from: (e-mail address removed);
| addressed to: (e-mail address removed); with the
| attachment: hxhci.exe
| I didn't open the attachment, I just "looked" at
| the "frames" message, and suddenly this window-alert to
| appeared:
| ________________________
| "Norton AntiVirus has detected a virus on your computer.
|
| Object name: (whole string of characters starting with
| C/Documents/Applications, and on and on -- I can't "copy
| and paste")
|
| Virus Name: Worm.Automat.AHB
|
| Action Taken: Unable to repair this file."
| ______________________________________
|
| WHAT DO I DO NOW? What happened here?
|
| ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: This e-mail was one of ten I
| received from "Microsoft" or "Network Security
| Department" or "MS Technical Bulletin" -- all showing up
| in my "Bulk" mail (where I usually don't get anything at
| all...), all about 150 KB, and all with strange
| attachments, like "q391875.exe" and "install4.exe"
| and "pack116.exe" (I didn't even think about opening
| those).
|
| YESSSSSS... I know I should have checked with people
| like you before I "looked" at the frames message. Hey,
| it's the first really dumb thing I've done on my computer
| since I got it last year!
|
| Anyway, if it's just a matter of this one file being
| corrupted, can I just delete it? If all of these e-mails
| are really from some spammer, is there a protocol I
| should use to report this? I've tried contacting MSN
| support and Symantec, but they haven't given me any
| useful information yet.
| Signed: Avery (old dog, learning new tricks too slowly).
| PS: back on the 13th, one of you fellows suggested that I
| have someone come over and help me with technical stuff --
| trouble is, a) I can't invite any guys over to this
| bachelorette's "dive;" and b) I'm always winding up in
| these situations in the middle of the night.

 

[Ron Sommer]

http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/dyn/42036.html
At least, you should quarantine the infected file.

 

[Avery]

Dear Nicholas:

thank you for the groovy links -- I've bookmarked them,
and I'm going to xplore "http://spam.abuse.net/goodsites/"
to find out where to report the spammer who slimmed me.

Meanwhile, I'd like to take your advice and
"Simply delete the file. Your computer is not
infected."
However, I don't know how: I can't get the "Norton
AntiVirus has detected a virus on your computer" window
to close, I can't "copy and paste" the name of the file,
and I can't delete it if I can't see the full name.

Any ideas about that?

 

[Avery]

Dear Ron:

Funny: when I checked the symantec listings of all
viri, ".AHB" WASN'T THERE....!

Please see my new post to Nicholas -- I don't know how to
delete or quarantine a file without being able to see its
full name...

 

[Wowbagger]

Meanwhile, I'd like to take your advice and
"Simply delete the file. Your computer is not
infected."
However, I don't know how: I can't get the "Norton
AntiVirus has detected a virus on your computer" window
to close, I can't "copy and paste" the name of the file,
and I can't delete it if I can't see the full name.

I shall take a guess based upon what I have seen on other systems. I make
the assumption that the message is still in your inbox (Outlook?).

Rather than click and release on the message, click and (holding down the
button) drag the message directly to the deleted items bin which you should
then empty.