Gunvor Roslind <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote
>yes it sure looks like a virus, but my virusprogram didn't
>react...strange....and it's updated recently..
In the light of the various virus problems recently, a few pieces of
advice - This assumes you are running Windows, some would say that is
dangerous in itself as Mac and Linux viruses are an extreme rarity.
a) If possible, do not use Microsoft mail products Outlook Express and
Outlook are specifically targeted by virus writers for two reasons -
one, they are ubiquitous, they are by far the most common mail systems
in the world, and secondly, they have virtually no real security built
into them - in fact , their default configuration makes it especially
easy to exploit them. Alternatives for Windows based machines that are
almost immune to e-mail based viruses and worms are Eudora, Agent and
Turnpike. You will find few internet veterans that use Outlook Express
or even Outlook because there are better alternatives which are safer.
b) If you must use Outlook or Outlook Express, make it safer, turn off
the automatic opening of attachments, turn off the preview pane, turn of
the sending of HTML and rich text mails. Plain text is what e-mail was
designed for and plain text e-mail cannot hide scripts. If you can,
regularly run Windows Update to download the almost weekly security
patches to try and close holes in Windows, Internet Explorer, Outlook,
Media Player etc.
c) Buy some decent anti virus protection. NAI (McAfee and Solomon) and
Symantic (Norton) are the best known alternatives.
d) Make sure your virus software and signatures are up-to-date. Do this
at least once a week.
e) Never open an attachment unless you are sure what it is before you
even think about opening it. If in doubt, leave it and write back asking
what it is. Only when sure you can trust it should you open it.
Over ten years, buying email software and virus software has cost me
�45. This is about $70 dollars, or less than �5 or $7 a year.
Despite running Windows and getting something like 100 mails a day, and
recently, some 10-20 a day have carried the Snow White or Sir Cam virus,
by following the advice above, none of my computers has ever been
infected by anything.
--
Julian
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
National Gerbil Society
http://www.gerbils.co.uk/
