I manage a rather large email server here for the Navy, and we run a couple of different software programs to filter out unwanted emails (spam) and viruses. The email server is a Sun UNIX server, running the latest version of their operating system, Solaris 9, fully patched. The two software programs are: SpamAssassin - catches the spam before it gets to the users mailbox, runs it through a whole bunch of filtering rules, and if it determines that it's spam, shoves it into a different folder that we system administrators check daily. If there are any legitimate emails in the spam folder, they get sent to the correct users mailbox. The other piece of software is called the "Sanitizer". It also checks each and every email that comes in to the server, and looks for certain file types attached to the email and also some content that may be suspicious. If it finds anything like that, it automatically strips the attachment or the offending code from the email message. We haven't had a virus affect any of the machines on our network in over two years because of this and the anti-virus software loaded and updated daily on our users machines.
Why am I writing this? Well, it's a lot of work keeping our network virus and spam free, but it's a lot less work than cleaning up a bunch of infected machines. If you don't have a good anti-virus software program running on your machine, get one, and keep your virus definitions up to date. If you have an anti-virus program, you're ahead of the curve, you just need to make sure the virus definitions are the most current. That means checking for new definitions every day in the current environment. Also, make sure you are going to the Windows Update web site often, and have the latest and greatest patches installed on your system. You don't have to download every single patch M$ puts out, just grab the critical and security patches. Trust me, it's a lot less work doing this, than having to completely rebuild your system. Those of you that have your computer connected to the internet all the time, set up your anti-virus software to check daily, and schedule a system scan in the wee hours of the morning. Also, get yourself a good personal firewall.
If you're working with a good local internet service provider, suggest they install anti-spam and anti-virus software at the mail server level. The more things in place to combat the incessant flow of spam and virii, the better chance we all have of catching them.
Mark
At 10:11 AM 8/20/2003 -0700, you wrote:
Tony and Listers:
This the Sobig virus which hit the internet in a big way Tuesday. The virus harvests email addresses off web pages, infects email software and uses addresses in the that victim's address book. You are getting these virus emails because someone who has you in their addressbook has got the bug.
The person listed as the sender in these messages is rarely the actual person who has the virus.
Details are at: <http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/ default.asp?id=description&virus_k=100561>
I received over 100 of these yesterday, and other clients are reporting the same.
Wes Wada Bend, Oregon
