Steve Alexander: Antivirus program shoots, scores

By Steve Alexander, Star Tribune

Last update: September 4, 2007 - 6:19 PM

Q I've recently switched to antivirus software from Kaspersky Lab, and about once a day the program sends me this report about something it's blocked: "Intrusion.Win.MSSQL.worm.Helkern! Attacker's IP Address:218.19.140.29 Protocol service." What does this mean?

KINGSLEY OBENG, CHAMPLIN

A It means your antivirus software has successfully blocked an attack by a variant of the four-year-old Helkern malicious Internet worm program.

A worm is a malicious program that endlessly replicates itself over a network, slowing normal network traffic. Some worms also deposit other, more harmful programs on the computers they infect.

The IP, or Internet Protocol, address shows that the attack originated from a computer in the Asia-Pacific region. It's possible the attacker is located somewhere else in the world, and merely took over a computer in Asia-Pacific that is being used to transmit the worm program.

Why you weren't affected: Helkern, better known as the "Slammer" worm, caused havoc in computer networks around the world in January 2003, by attacking Microsoft database servers. Now Slammer is blocked by modern antivirus programs, but attackers continue to look for computers that lack updated security software.

Q I have a Memorex Travel Drive (flash drive) that I damaged because I never took it out of the USB port on my laptop when transporting the PC. Now the Travel Drive's USB connector is loose and my computer does not recognize the device. But I have several files on the drive that I need. Any ideas on how I could get those files off the broken flash drive?

SHERYL KEMPFERT, EDEN PRAIRIE

A There are companies that retrieve data from a broken flash drive, but the recovery is more expensive than the flash drive itself.

Firms that retrieve flash drive data include Kroll Ontrack, Eden Prairie ($400 fee; www.startribune.com/a3278), and Pro Data Doctor ($269 fee; www.startribune.com/a3254).

What your experience points out is that computer memory devices are still fragile. Everyone should store important data in more than one place -- say, on a computer's hard drive and on a flash drive or external hard drive.

Steve Alexander covers technology for the Star Tribune. E-mail your technology questions to tech@startribune.com or write Tech Q&A, 425 Portland Av. S., Minneapolis, MN 55488-0002. Please include a full name, city and phone number.

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