The Security Mentor

Did your Windows machine start rebooting at random recently? It could be a lot worse. For some people it already is.

There's a new worm spreading called "Korgo". It crawls through the same hole in Windows as "Sasser", which caused the random reboots. It installs by itself automatically, and doesn't depend on you opening an attachment.

Korgo is seriously dangerous because it records everything you type into Web forms. Antivirus company F-Secure believes it's designed to steal online banking passwords and credit card numbers.

In the short run a cheap firewall should protect you. Don't connect a Windows machine to the net without one. You need something above and beyond the built-in firewall in Windows XP. (Because when you start XP it turns on networking long before it turns on the firewall, so you may be wide open for ten or twenty seconds, and that's all it takes).

In the longer term you need to install Microsoft's patch. If you're on dialup, take the computer and a six-pack to the home of your tech-savvy friend with high-speed Internet access, put your computer in your friend's network and the six-pack in your friend, and run Windows Update.

If your antivirus software tells you that you got Korgo then F-Secure advises changing your online passwords and canceling any credit cards you've used online. It's that bad.