Worm.com

Diskeeper Corporation today released findings
of a new IT study. The results show defrag and antivirus on equal footing
as a vital best server practice.

Of 179 Network Administrators asked “What software do you consider vital to
have on your servers?” — 48% responded with “Antivirus/Symantec” and 45%
“Defrag/Diskeeper.” Viruses and file fragmentation are now on par as
performance degradation issues to be eliminated.

When next asked “Why do you personally feel defragmentation is vital,
particularly for servers?” — 61% responded with “Performance / Speed /
Keeps Systems Smooth.”

Every machine suffers from file fragmentation. But server fragmentation
levels are particularly exacerbated by multiple user traffic. This
translates to network slows, sluggish boot times and excessively long
anti-virus scans.

Diskeeper© Server 2008 eradicates these delays permanently and
automatically — with no intervention or scheduling required on the part of
the Admin. The guesswork has been taken completely out of defragmenting.

Additional features include the ability to defrag in the most extreme
levels of low free space (1%) and the highest levels of crippling file
fragmentation (millions, as found in the enterprise). This is all done
transparently, in real time, tapping the power of otherwise idle resources
with a sophisticated background processing technology called,
InvisiTasking(TM).

Diskeeper is as indispensable as anti-virus. For more information on how it
can help your servers, call 800-829-6468. Full featured trial ware and
fragmentation analysis tools can also be found at www.diskeeper.com .

About Diskeeper Corporation — Innovators in Performance and Reliability
Technologies(TM):

With over 30 million licenses sold, small businesses to large enterprises
rely on Diskeeper software to provide maximum performance and reliability
to their laptops, desktops and servers. Diskeeper Corporation also provides
up-to-the-minute data protection and instant file recovery with Undelete®.

© 2008 Diskeeper Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Diskeeper,
InvisiTasking, Undelete and Innovators in Performance and Reliability
Technologies are trademarks owned by Diskeeper Corporation. All other
trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Tech Media Contact:
Colleen Toumayan
Tel: 800-829-6468 ext. 1610
E-Mail: colleent@diskeeper.com

Channel & Biz Media Contact:
Derek De Vette
Tel: 800-829-6468 ext. 1717
E-mail: derek@diskeeper.com

Information provided by: Findarticles.com

Kaspersky
Lab , a leading developer of Internet threat management solutions
that protect against all forms of malicious software , has informed the
public that it has been the first to detect a new variant of Gpcode, a
dangerous encryptor virus – Virus.Win32.Gpcode.ak. Kaspersky Lab added a
signature for Virus.Win32.Gpcode.ak on June 4, 2008.

Gpcode.ak encrypts files with various extensions including, but not limited
to: .doc, .txt, .pdf, .xls, .jpg, .png, .cpp, .h and more using an RSA
encryption algorithm with a 1024-bit key. Kaspersky Lab analysts succeeded
in thwarting previous variants of Gpcode, when Kaspersky virus researchers
were able to crack the private key after in-depth cryptographic analysis.
The author of Gpcode has taken two years to improve the virus: the previous
errors have been fixed and the key has been lengthened to 1024 bits instead
of 660 bits.

At the time of writing, Kaspersky Lab is unable to decrypt files encrypted
by Gpcode.ak since the key is 1024 bits long. Thus, the only way currently
to decrypt the encrypted files is to use the private key which only the
author has available at a fee.

“With this new version of Gpcode, we’ve encountered ransomware which seems
impossible to crack during this early stage of detection. Next to running
anti-malware solutions the best measure to fight this kind of malware is to
regularly create back-ups of the files stored on the computer,” said Roel
Schouwenberg, Senior Anti-Virus Researcher, Kaspersky Lab. “We strongly
discourage infected people to pay the ransom as this will only encourage
the author to create new versions.”

After Gpcode.ak encrypts files on the victim machine it adds ._CRYPT to the
extension of the encrypted files and places a text file named
!_READ_ME_!.txt in the same folder. In the text file the criminal tells
the victims that the file has been encrypted and offers to sell them a
“decryptor”:

  «Your files are encrypted with RSA-1024 algorithm.
  To recovery your files you need to buy our decryptor.
  To buy decrypting tool contact us at: ********@yahoo.com»
  

WHAT TO DO IF YOU RECEIVE THE MESSAGE ABOVE:

Contact Kaspersky Lab using another computer connected to the Internet. DO
NOT RESTART or POWER DOWN the potentially infected machine.

Write to Kaspersky at: stopgpcode@kaspersky.com with the following
information included in the email:

--  Date & Time of infection
--  Everything done on the computer in the 5 minutes before the machine
    was infected, including:
    --  Programs executed
    --  Websites visited

Kaspersky Lab will try to help recover any encrypted data.

Kaspersky Lab analysts are continuing to analyze the virus code in search
of a way to decrypt the files without having the private key. Until a
solution is found, we recommend that anti-malware solutions are set to
maximum security and extra care is taken while browsing the Internet and
reading email.

We urge infected users not to yield to the blackmailer, but to contact us
and local cybercrime law enforcement units. Yielding to blackmailers only
continues the cycle.

About Kaspersky Lab

Kaspersky Lab delivers the world’s most immediate protection against IT
security threats, including viruses, spyware, crimeware, hackers, phishing,
and spam. Kaspersky Lab products provide superior detection rates and the
industry’s fastest outbreak response time for home users, SMBs, large
enterprises and the mobile computing environment. Kaspersky® technology
is used worldwide inside the products and services of the industry’s
leading IT security solution providers. Learn more at
www.kaspersky.com . For the latest on antivirus, anti-spyware, anti-spam and
other IT security issues and trends, visit www.viruslist.com .

Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=774276

Contact Information:

Jennifer Jewett
Kaspersky Lab, The Americas
+ 1 781 503 1856
Email Contact

Andrea Jahanbozorgi
Cohn & Wolfe
+ 1 212 798 9820
Email Contact

Information provided by: Findarticles.com

Home News IN BRIEF

*The strain of H7 bird flu found in chickens at a farm in Oxfordshire is dangerous to birds but poses only a slight risk to people, officials said. The avian flu virus was found on Tuesday at the farm in Banbury, and all birds on the site were slaughtered. The H7 strain is regarded as a much less serious threat to human health than the H5N1 strain. Further tests are in progress to identify the exact type of the virus.

Copyright c 2008 Independent Newspapers UK Limited. All rights
owned or operated by The Independent.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.

Information provided by: Findarticles.com

WEST FORK, Ark. (AP) — State officials say all the chickens exposed to a strain of the bird-flu virus at a Tyson Foods Inc. contract farm in northwest Arkansas have been killed and buried.

Jon Fitch, director of the state’s Livestock and Poultry Commission, says workers finished the job just after midnight Wednesday. Fitch says Tyson has provided more than 1,000 blood samples from other birds for testing, but no other exposures have been found.

Springdale-based Tyson began killing 15,000 hens from a flock that tested positive for antibodies of H7N3, a less virulent strain of the virus. The H5N1 bird-flu virus has killed 240 people worldwide and scientists worry it could mutate into a form that spreads easily among people.

Copyright C 2008 Deseret News Publishing Co.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.

Information provided by: Findarticles.com

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) — The number of HIV-infected pregnant women in South Africa appears to have dropped further last year, signalling a possible overall decrease in cases of the virus, the health minister said Thursday.

Preliminary findings of the latest survey of HIV prevalence among pregnant women at public pre-natal clinics showed the decrease, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said.

She said the survey showed HIV prevalence among women had dropped from an …

Information provided by: Findarticles.com

Now 100% Sensitive at Detecting CXCR4 HIV-1 Levels as Low as 0.3%

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., June 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Monogram Biosciences, Inc. today announced immediate availability of enhanced sensitivity in its Trofile assay. Trofile was introduced commercially upon FDA approval of Selzentry(TM) (maraviroc), Pfizer’s first in class CCR5 antagonist, in August 2007. Optimization of Monogram’s Trofile(TM) HIV co-receptor tropism assay has made it substantially more sensitive at identifying very low levels of CXCR4 using virus (X4 or dual/mixed tropic) in HIV-1 patient samples while maintaining a high degree of accuracy. The assay can now detect X4 virus present at levels less than 0.3% of the total virus population, and at that level of X4 virus, the assay is 100% sensitive. This improvement in sensitivity should give physicians a greater level of confidence that the Trofile assay is selecting the most appropriate patients for CCR5 antagonist therapy.

Tropism refers to the chemokine co-receptor on the surface of CD4+ cells that a particular variant of HIV uses to enter the cell. "R5" variants use the CCR5 co-receptor, "X4" viruses use the CXCR4 co-receptor, and dual/mixed HIV uses both co-receptors. New CCR5 antagonist therapies, such as Pfizer’s Selzentry block the "R5" variants of HIV from entering through the CCR5 co-receptor. CCR5 antagonists have not been shown to be effective against X4 or dual/mixed variants.

Trofile is now 100% sensitive at detecting CXCR4 minor variants as low as 0.3%, a sensitivity increase of 30-fold on average. Monogram says that with this increase in sensitivity, the assay remains highly accurate.

"Pfizer welcomes advances and innovation in tropism detection, such as the enhanced sensitivity of Trofile, which will give physicians important information when deciding whether or not to incorporate a CCR5 antagonist like Selzentry into a patient’s treatment regimen," said Dr. Howard Mayer, MD, Executive Director, Pfizer Development Team Leader for HIV/AIDS. Pfizer and Monogram have a collaboration agreement for commercialization of Trofile outside of the U.S.

"Detection of CXCR4-using minority variants has been shown as an important indicator of CCR5 antagonist treatment success and Trofile is the only clinically validated assay to identify co-receptor tropism, a step the FDA and EMEA has determined is critical in selecting patients for treatment with a CCR5 antagonist," said Monogram CEO William Young. "Trofile is the gold standard in tropism testing and the enhanced sensitivity version now available sets a new standard for performance so that the thousands of physicians who rely on our assay can better direct patient selection."

Trofile examines the complete gp160 coding region of the HIV-1 envelope protein, ensuring that all of the determinants of tropism are tested. In a retrospective analysis reported at the recent Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, the enhanced assay improved patient selection by identifying more cases of dual / mixed virus, and more accurately predicted virologic outcomes. In addition to providing patient selection for Selzentry’s pivotal trials, Trofile has been used for patient selection and monitoring in all Phase II and III clinical trials of co-receptor antagonists.

About Trofile

Trofile is a clinically validated patient selection tropism assay that determines whether a patient is infected with a strain of HIV that uses either the CCR5 co-receptor, the CXCR4 co-receptor, or a combination of CCR5 and CXCR4 to enter cells. The use of CCR5, CXCR4 or both co-receptors defines the "tropism" of the virus strain. Trofile amplifies the envelope gene from a patient’s HIV genome (from their blood sample) and then uses it to make HIV particles containing the patient’s virus envelope protein. The resultant HIV particles are then used to infect cells that contain the CCR5 co-receptor or the CXCR4 co-receptor on the cell surface. Once the virus infects the cell, it undergoes a single round of replication. Virus replication results in the production of luciferase from a luciferase gene that is carried into the cell by the virus. The production of luciferase in either CCR5 cells, CXCR4 cells or both cell types defines the co-receptor tropism of the patient virus. Trofile is the only clinically validated tropism assay and has been used to select patients in all phase II and phase III studies of CCR5 antagonists to date.

About Monogram

Monogram is a biotechnology company advancing individualized medicine by discovering, developing and marketing innovative products to guide and improve treatment of serious infectious diseases and cancer. The Company’s products are designed to help doctors optimize treatment regimens for their patients that lead to better outcomes and reduced costs. The Company’s technology is also being used by numerous biopharmaceutical companies to develop new and improved antiviral therapeutics and vaccines as well as targeted cancer therapeutics. More information about the Company and its technology can be found on its web site at http://www.monogrambio.com/

Information provided by: Findarticles.com

Researchers Explore Possibility of Enhancing Delivery of Pandemic Flu Vaccine

PORTLAND, Ore. & HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — Bioject Medical Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: BJCT), a leading developer of needle-free injection therapy (NFIT) systems, and ImmunoVaccine Technologies, Inc. (IVT), a vaccine development company, today announced they have entered into a collaborative Research Agreement to assess utilization of the Biojector[R] 2000 for the delivery of IVT’s unique vaccine enhancement platform, DepoVax(TM).

This research will test the efficacy of an IVT pandemic influenza vaccine formulation delivered using Bioject’s flagship Bioject B2000 device. The research will compare the onset, magnitude and duration of the anti-influenza response using the Bioject B2000 device against the same responses using standard needle-injection procedures. Should this research collaboration demonstrate positive results with a pandemic flu vaccine formulation, the two companies may enter into a joint development and commercialization agreement for the delivery of IVT’s vaccine products using Bioject’s needle-free injection device.

"Needle-free injection therapy systems provide enhancing technologies for vaccines, and we are confident that IVT’s vaccine pre-clinical trial will reaffirm the significant benefits of Bioject’s NFIT systems," said Dr. Richard Stout, Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Bioject. "We have found with other vaccines that our NFIT systems may improve immunogenicity, thereby improving efficacy. We believe that this research collaboration will be mutually beneficial to both companies in the near future."

"It’s exciting to integrate our world class technologies," remarked Dr. Marc Mansour, Vice-President of research and development at IVT. "By delivering our vaccine formulation with Bioject’s needle-free system, we hope to induce immune responses with a single dose even faster than we have before."

Influenza is a RNA virus that causes respiratory disease in birds and mammals. There are three major influenza groups: A, B, and C (based on antigenicity). Groups A and B are the primary causes of influenza in humans. There are currently three types of effective flu vaccines: whole inactivated virus, split-virion containing fragments of the virus particle, and a nasal vaccine containing virions that are genetic reassortants of a Master Donor Virus (MDV) and a wildtype influenza virus. IVT has demonstrated that its vaccine enhancement platform induces very high immune responses against H5N1 influenza, within 18 days after a single dose. This study will explore the use of Bioject’s B2000 for the delivery of IVT’s pandemic influenza formulations.

About Bioject

Bioject Medical Technologies Inc., based in Portland, Oregon, is an innovative developer and manufacturer of needle-free injection therapy systems (NFITS). NFITS provide an empowering technology and works by forcing medication at high speed through a tiny orifice held against the skin. This creates a fine stream of high-pressure fluid penetrating the skin and depositing medication in the tissue beneath. The Company is focused on developing mutually beneficial agreements with leading pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and veterinary companies.

For more information about Bioject, visit www.bioject.com.

About IVT

ImmunoVaccine Technologies Inc. is a private, clinical-stage, vaccine development company. Through its own biotech research, patented VacciMax([R]) and DepoVax[TM] technologies, and collaborations with partners, IVT creates vaccines with the potential to help save and improve lives around the world. In January 2008, IVT licensed its technology to Pfizer Animal health, marking a pivotal step in achieving its vision of delivering breakthrough vaccines.

For more information about IVT, visit www.immunovaccine.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding potential benefits provided by our NFIT product to ImmunoVaccine’s technologies. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, without limitation, uncertainties related to the effect our product will have on this specific vaccine. Readers of this press release are referred to the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company’s reports on Form 10-K and Forms 10-Q for further discussions of factors that could affect the Company’s business and its future results. Forward-looking statements are based on the estimates and opinions of management on the date the statements are made. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if conditions or management’s estimates or opinions should change.

COPYRIGHT 2008 Business Wire
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning

Information provided by: Findarticles.com

New Report Helps Companies Prepare for Potential IT Security Risks

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — MX Logic, Inc. today published a new monthly report that aims to help inform organizations about potential email and Web threats in advance so they can take preventative action. In addition to historical data and trends, the report forecasts overall spam levels, potential virus and worm outbreaks and likely social engineering ploys for the coming month.

June 2008 Threat Forecast Highlights:

* Overall spam volume is expected to remain high or increase slightly in June.

* As a percentage of total email traffic, spam is expected to remain at approximately 90 percent.

* Variants of the Storm Worm are expected to emerge in the form of e-card spam, particularly around Father’s Day.

* Blended email and Web threats related to gas prices or the Chinese earthquake relief efforts will remain popular, but will start to decline toward the end of the month.

The MX Logic Threat Forecast and Report is developed using current and historical data and trends, as well as expert analysis of real-time spam and virus events monitored by the 24×7 MX Logic Threat Operations Center. In addition, the monthly report includes detailed background on the key threat activity, trends and events from the past month.

Related/Useful Links:

MX Logic Threat Report and Forecast: http://www.mxlogic.com/pdf/forecast/threatforecast0608.pdf

MX Logic Threat Center: www.mxlogic.com/threat_center/

Link to MX Logic IT Security Blog: http://www.mxlogic.com/itsecurityblog/index.cfm

Quote from Sam Masiello, Director of Threat Management, MX Logic:

"Look-back reports are important, but only if we use them to inform our decisions about the future. The goal of the MX Logic Threat Forecast and Report isn’t to predict the future, but to use our unique insight and knowledge to provide IT departments with some tangible signs to be on the look-out for in the coming month, so they can be better prepared to deal with them."

About MX Logic

MX Logic is a leading provider of managed email and Web security services that deliver enterprise-grade performance without enterprise-level complexity and cost. Our easy-to-use, award-winning services reduce risk and liability, lower overall IT costs, and increase productivity. MX Logic services are available through our industry-leading partner network. For more information, visit www.mxlogic.com.

COPYRIGHT 2008 Business Wire
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning

Information provided by: Findarticles.com