If you haven't applied the outlook e-mail security updates to Outlook 2000
or earlier, I suggest you do a little test - send a .bat file to all of your
Outlook 2000 users from an outside address. Call it something virus-like,
say FunnnyStuff.jpg.bat. Write this .bat file to place a file with the users
name on a network share, so you can see who actually ran it.
I bet you'll discover that *most* of your users run this strange attachment,
despite all the press mail-borne viruses have gotten. They simply don't
know, or don't care. The vast majority of Outlook users have no business
need to receive executable attachments via e-mail, so the risk of allowing
those attachments outweighs the rewards for the few technical people who
need them and can use them responsibly.
And yes, many Windows users are neophytes, and most Linux users aren't. But
then again, nobody runs Linux on their desktop, unless they're an engineer
and know what they're doing. But that's as it should be. You don't want to
waste the time of line-of-business folks by sending them to weeks of
expensive computer training, when they don't *need* it to do their job. 90%
of salespeople, for example, can't use Linux - but I bet 90% of techies
couldn't sell water in the desert, either.
The right tool for the right job - and Windows is the right tool for the
corporate desktop.
Ryan Malayter, MCSE
Bank Administration Institute
Chicago, Illinois, USA
---------------
There's nothing more exhilarating that pointing out the shortcomings of
others, is there?
-----Original Message-----
From: Sharpe, Richard [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Thursday, August 23, 2001 7:13 AM
To: NT 2000 Discussions
Subject: RE: *.exe in Outlook 2002
Agree !, that is why I still run Outlook 2000 on one machine, It also gets
me mad when my LINUX coworks laugh at how Microsoft thinks all it's users
are morons by doing this kind of stuff.
Rich
-----Original Message-----
From: Adam Smith [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Thursday, August 23, 2001 12:05 AM
To: NT 2000 Discussions
Subject: RE: *.exe in Outlook 2002
> Don't disable this feature. You WANT .exe's to be blocked in
> email. If you've never been hit with a mail-borne virus in
> the form of an .exe, believe me, you will.
>
> If someone has to send you a legitimate .exe by e-mail, have
> the sender wrap it in a password-protected .ZIP file, or
> rename it with a different extension. It'll come through.
This security option is good, I agree, however its level-management is
disgusting.
For example -- This is *my* computer. I don't want to block EXE files
because I am not stupid enough to load one without knowing what it is first.
I am quite happy to have that option enabled by default, but editing the
registry and changing some registry key is ludicrous at best. The other day
I had to receive printer drivers for a labeling printer that were not
downloadable from the Internet, and they were sent to me as a .EXE file. I
could NOT get access to this file for the life of me. Even the registry
workaround wouldn't work.
In the end I had to forward the message to myself including the attachment,
and then access the email through our webmail client, just to stop the
filtering and access the file.
REDICULOUS!!
Anyone with enough brains to run WinZip, which includes my mother, would see
a .ZIP file, and load the EXE file within it, so these security measures
will not stop malicious code from being run. The USER MUST BE EDUCATED.
Even if this means an interactive video that comes up explaining why you
mustn't run an EXE file, as long as it ends the advanced users nightmare of
being restricted by some 'policy' that they didn't want implemented in the
first place.
Argh!!!
------
You are subscribed as [email protected]
Archives: http://www.swynk.com/sitesearch/search.asp
To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
