----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]----
Spook,
Antivirus
I like Norton Antivirus and that's the one selected by the company I
used to work for. It's also, I think, leader in the field because it's
good.
On the other hand, a few people swear at Norton and use McAfee. It's
been a few years since I last tried McAfee and at that time McAfee was a
pain to update.
Independent tests have shown that all the major antivirus programs catch
ALL the viruses IF AND ONLY IF you have updated virus signature files.
I currently have my Norton Antivirus (NAV) configured to update its
signatures twice a week. There's not much chance a new virus will get
to me so fast my update schedule will miss it. Mostly I like Norton
because it's so painless to work with and the live updates have worked
so well for me.
Your mileage may vary.
E-mail programs
For e-mail, I use Microsoft Outlook which is acknowledged to be the most
dangerous e-mail program on the planet. Outlook works VERY nicely and
has lots of nice features. (So do other programs.) I use Outlook because
any company I go to work for is 95% likely to be using it and I do
technical support for users - I have to know Outlook well.
Outlook may or may not have more security flaws than its competitors,
BUT - many people in the world HATE Microsoft and will do anything to
attack it. Many virus writers target Outlook because SO MANY people use
Outlook and that makes it a juicy target. There are ways viruses can
infect you through Outlook WITHOUT your assistance - especially if you
don't keep up-to-date on your Windows and Office updates.
Still, with NAV in place and up to date, I haven't had a successful
infection . . . yet. I do also have a firewall to protect my always-on
Internet connection.
Of very high importance, I follow this advice:
Unless I've PREarranged for the file to be sent to me from a trusted
source, I NEVER open ANY attachments except for
.jpg
.gif
.msg
(and even these, I carefully check to be SURE they REALLY ARE those file
types before I open the file). And even when I receive a pre-arranged
file transfer, I'll save the file to the hard drive and virus check it
before opening it.
Lines of defense:
antivirus program
firewall
DON'T trust and DO verify
DO keep backups of all important files, preferably with a copy
off-site.
Tom, I have no reason to think any of the current viruses have come to
me through the list. In fact, they are coming to one of my other e-mail
addresses that I previously used for list e-mail but in the last month
or two so the virus got my info from a Coupe list member or an e-mail
correspondent of a Coupe list member based on that old address. No
blame to the list from me, for sure.
But it's true, if you don't have an antivirus program, then you have
been or someday will be part of the passing-on-viruses problem. (Feel
sorry for me - I have four computers here to protect. <sigh>)
Ed Burkhead
http://edburkhead.com/
[EMAIL PROTECTED] (remove the XXX)
-----Original Message-----
From: Georgia Trehey [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2003 12:03 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [SPAM] [COUPERS-FLYIN] email programs
----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following
any advice in this forum.]----
Howdy,
If anyone who is having the virus problem is willing
to answer this, I would be interested.
What virus scanning software, if any are you using,
and what email program do you use?
Please answer off list to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Thanks so much,
Spook
=====
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com
========================================================================
======
To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm
Search the archives on http://escribe.com/aviation/coupers/
==========================================================================
====
To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm
Search the archives on http://escribe.com/aviation/coupers/
<<attachment: winmail.dat>>
