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Beware the Beagle's Byte
A new computer virus, the Beagle (also called Bagel), is spreading across the Internet and hunting for e-mail addresses. WhiIe it won't necessarily damage your computer, it will pilfer your hard drive for e-mail addresses, harvesting them for spammers who could potentially sell them to e-mail marketers.
The Beagle arrives as an attachment. Do not open it. Delete it. Here's how to spot it:
The From line in the e-mail coming to you may contain the following characteristics:
- management@(your domain name here)
- administration@(your domain name here)
- staff@(your domain name here)
- support@(your domain name here)
- noreply@(your domain name here)
The Subject line of the e-mail may contain one of the following:
- E-mail account disabling warning
- E-mail account security warning
- E-mail account utilization warning
- Important notification about your e-mail account
- Notify about using the e-mail account
- Notify about your e-mail account utilization
- Warning about your e-mail account
Do Not Open e-mails containing these characteristics. Delete them immediately.
One of the best protections is to have Internet anti-virus security software, such as McCaffee and Symantec/Norton Anti-Virus, installed on your computer and regularly updated so the software is seeking out the latest viruses and worms. When set correctly, the software will automatically delete or quarantine viruses before they get into your computer.
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GAO Report Documents Inconsistencies in How Corps Districts Make Decisions on Wetlands Regulation
A Feb. 27 report by the U.S. General Accounting Office found …
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Housing Snapshot
For the third consecutive month, job growth in February continued to dawdle, raising questions about the strength of the U.S. economy despite a recent resurgence in the Gross Domestic Product. Only some 21,000 jobs were created, compared to expectations for 125,000. Economists believe that the monthly pace of job creation will have to quicken to the 200,000 level before the country will see a true job market recovery. For those looking for some more encouraging economic news last week, the residential mortgage market was the place to find it. With mortgage rates remaing unexpectedly low, at roughly the same levels as the week before, refinancings rose to a seven-month high, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The lumber price story remained bleak last week, although the rates of the increases continued to slow. Random Lengths reported that framing lumber was up $3 to $392 per 1,000 board feet. The mill price for 15/32-inch 3-ply CDX Southern Westside plywood was stable at $495 per 1,000 square feet, although still soaring over the $240 cost of a year earlier. Oriented strand board was slightly higher for the week, up $3 to $498 and well above last year's cost of $175 per 1,000 square feet.
| Mortgage Interest Rates |
| 30-Year Fixed-Rate |
5.59% |
| 15-Year Fixed-Rate |
4.88% |
| 1-Year ARM |
3.47% |
| Housing Starts - Jan. 2004* |
| Total |
1.903 million |
| Single-Family Starts |
1.537 million |
| Multifamily Starts |
339,000 |
New Home Sales
Jan. 2004* |
1.106 million |
Existing Home Sales
Jan. 2004* |
6.04 million |
| * Seasonally adjusted annual rate |
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