VIRUS OUT OF HAND - PLEASE READ!!!!

[Guest Scott Campbell]

Some idiot/idiots has/have let a virus onto his system and it's sending me, and probably everyone here, dozens and dozens of messages with the same virus attachment. That person/people is/are also sending viruses to others with my (and everyone's in their mail list) e-mail address as the return address. Then it propagates to files all over the place and accesses e-mail addresses wherever it finds it.How many times do people have to be told DO NOT OPEN ANYTHING ATTACHED ENDING WITH PIF OR SCR? If you have Outlook, please think of getting rid of it. And finally, GET A FIREWALL AND virus SCANNER. The virus scanner will prevent the virus, but if you do get one, the firewall will tell you when a program tries to access the internet on its own.Get details here:http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcen...sobig.f@mm.html

[djsebx 0]

Everyone can use the freeware spambuster. Once your mail accounts set in in, you will first load your mails in it but it's fast it only downloads the titles and senders from the server, autodetects the spam and dumbs, verify no normal mails is signed , then click delete signed emails and they are deleted from the mail server. Use safely Outlook for the next minutes. The next dumbs and viruses are sent again a few minutes later, so i advice you to repeat spam buster action until 10th september 2003.

[Mike S KPDX 597]

"If you have Outlook, please think of getting rid of it."I am not a computer wiz, I do use oulook - why should I not? Should somthing be set within outlook that can help? Do you have any other suggestions on what to replace it with?

[Guest Scott Campbell]

Mike,I personally like Eudora since it isn't integrated into the system and can't execute anything automatically. So it doesn't have so many holes in it that it's an open port into the system. Also, since viruses can be contained in the e-mail itself, Eudora simply can't execute them. This is the one time I like less sophisticated software.I don't use Outlook, but there are a couple of things I think you can do. Firstly, I think you can set it so it won't automatically open attachments. Secondly, use a good virus scanner and keep the definition files up to date. There are some free ones out there, but I prefer McAfee. Norton also does okay. Then set to scan incoming e-mail. They'll flag things immediately if there's a virus attachment or in the e-mail itself. Thirdly, if you aren't expecting a file from someone, especially a business like a bank or whatnot, who never send files, only point you to web links, you can assume it's a virus. Fourthly, if it's from someone you know, but it's a strange title like "Approved", or "Your Information", you can assume it's a virus. Finally, it's a given that any attachment ending in .pif or .scr is a virus. Just never open those. I think you can also set some e-mail programs (I don't know about Outlook), to delete those immediately. This is also more of a virus scanner thing.The purpose of having a firewall is to keep people with Trojan Horse scripts from accessing your system. So if you do get their virus, they can't access and run it. The firewall also prevents any infected program from going into the internet and spreading.But the key thing is to be cautious of anything you get with an attachment. I scan everything, even if I am expecting something from someone. I have received files that had viruses in them that the sender didn't know about. Some worms attach themselves to outgoing files.It's well worth the time and investment to put in as many preventative measures as you can.

[hastings 0]

Hi Mike,I personally use Pegasus Mail, mainly because it's full-featured, and for us cheapskates, it's free, so I can spend my dollars on programs like Radar Contact!!!I use this general rule of thumb regarding e-mails:"When in doubt, delete."If you do not know the person sending you an e-mail, don't even bother opening it. Immediantly delete the message; you'll save yourself a lot of headaches.Hope it helps.Cheers,Mike T.