7 VIRUS ALERTS-ADVISORIES-RECALLS.

#1. Recalls.
#2. 900 million messages a day carrying some sort of malicious code.
#3. More Bagle, Mytob worms.
#4. Able Labs Recalls All Its Generic Drugs.
#5. Public Utilities Commission (PUC) investigating MCI's billing practices.
#6. Disability Insurance: A Broken Promise.
#7. Study Suggests Pain Reliever, Breast Cancer Link.

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#1. Recalls.

From Consumer Affairs.Com. It's important to stay up to date on recalls. All too often, consumers don't learn of a recall until it's too late, according to a recent investigation by Consumers Union. So check back here often, or subscribe to our free newsletter for a weekly update of important recalls.

To view this ALERT / ADVISORY / RECALL online, use the following link: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/recalls/recalls.htm
(You may need to copy and paste this link if you're using hotmail, msn, aol or some other mail services.)

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#2. 900 million messages a day carrying some sort of malicious code.

-Increasing numbers of messages infected with malware - Oxygen3 24h-365d, by Panda Software http://www.pandasoftware.com

May 30, 2005 - The Californian market research company Radicati Group has presented a series of statistics about e-mail and messaging systems and the security problems that affect these services. A summary of the survey is available at:
http://www.radicati.com/cgi-local/brochure.pl?pub_id=497&subscr=&back_link=/reports/single.shtml.
(NOTE: The address above may not show up on your screen as a single line. This would prevent you from using the link to access the web page. If this happens, just use the 'cut' and 'paste' options to join the pieces of the URL.)

Perhaps one of the most alarming conclusions of the report is that the number of messages carrying some sort of malicious code in 2005 has increased to 900 million messages a day. And the forecasts are even more worrying, as this number is expected to grow to 4200 million infected messages a day by 2009.

The study also concludes that the number of email users around the world will grow at a rate of 7% annually over the next four years, from 683 million users in 2005 to approximately 930 million in 2009. In 2005, there are a total of 381 million active mailboxes in Europe from a total of 1196 million in the whole world. Each European user has an average of 1.9 mail accounts.

The majority of malware is designed to spread either through email or across P2P networks. In 2005, 86% of malware used email as a means of spreading, while 49% used P2P networks. In 2005, email is expected to represent 53% of all corporate mail and 74% of consumer email traffic. In total, spam will make up 57% of the world's email traffic.

Given these statistics, the installation of systems to protect against malware is a necessity at all levels, from large corporate networks to home user systems.

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#3. More Bagle, Mytob worms.

A bunch of new offshoots of the Bagle and Mytob worms are spreading.

Three new iterations of Bagle, released at one-hour intervals, popped up on Tuesday, said Maksym Schipka, a senior antivirus researcher at MessageLabs. About 70 variants of the mass-mailing computer virus have been reported since it first appeared in January 2004.

Mytob, like Bagle, is generating new offspring. It is a malicious worm that installs a backdoor and uses its own e-mail engine to forward itself to addresses that it gathers from infected computers.

To view this ALERT online, use the following link: http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5726802.html?tag=nl.e589
(You may need to copy and paste this link if you're using hotmail, msn, aol or some other mail services.)

Aditional information can be found by clicking any of the following links:

Mytob.CU - http://secunia.com/virus_information/18440/

"Bagle.AR", "Bagle.BO", "Bagle-Q" or "Troj.Tooso.B" - http://www.itsafe.gov.uk/bulletins/2005-bul-006.html

WORM_MYTOB.BI - http://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/virusencyclo/default5.asp?VName=WORM_MYTOB.BI

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#4. Able Labs Recalls All Its Generic Drugs.

Able says the company has serious concerns that the recalled drugs were not produced according to quality assurance standards. The company has ceased all production and said its chairman and CEO will resign and withdrew financial guidance.

"In the meantime, the Agency recommends that people who have been taking drugs produced by this firm speak with their health care provider or pharmacist to obtain a replacement drug product. Consumers should continue taking the medication until they have spoken with their health care provider. In many cases the risk of suddenly stopping needed medication before getting replacement drugs may outweigh the risk of continuing to use the recalled products," Glavin said.

The list below provides the names of the recalled drugs and their imprint codes. Imprints are marks (usually letters and numbers) found on the surfaces of drugs. If you have one of the drugs listed below with one of the corresponding imprint codes, your drug is covered by the Able Laboratories recall.

To view this RECALL online, use the following link: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/able_labs.html
(You may need to copy and paste this link if you're using hotmail, msn, aol or some other mail services.)

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#5. Public Utilities Commission (PUC) investigating MCI's billing practices.

The California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is investigating MCI's billing practices after receiving hundreds of complaints from consumers who claim they were charged a "minimum usage fee" even though they are not MCI customers.

The problem is not confined to California. ConsumerAffairs.Com has received complaints from consumers nationwide who have experienced similar problems.

To view this ALERT online, use the following link: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/ca_mci.html
(You may need to copy and paste this link if you're using hotmail, msn, aol or some other mail services.)

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#6. Disability Insurance: A Broken Promise.

With major corporations slashing or withdrawing health care benefits from salary packages, cutting pension benefits and practicing blatant age discrimination when searching for employees, it's a tough time to be an employee, even if you're healthy. For those who have suffered injuries or become disabled, the consequences can be catastrophic.

At its most basic, disability insurance is coverage intended to provide 45 to 60 percent of gross income to workers who lose their wages due to a debilitating injury or illness.

To view this ADVISORY online, use the following link: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/disability_insurance.html
(You may need to copy and paste this link if you're using hotmail, msn, aol or some other mail services.)

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#7. Study Suggests Pain Reliever, Breast Cancer Link.

Researchers think women who use aspirin, ibuprofen or other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) on a regular basis could increase their risks of breast cancer. An account of the study - the first to establish such a link - appears in the latest issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

To view this ALERT online, use the following link: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/pain_breast_cancer.html
(You may need to copy and paste this link if you're using hotmail, msn, aol or some other mail services.)

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