Beware of computer virus

[cato]

My virus protection software just intercepted an e-mail from unsubscribe@americatab.com (or something like that) which may have been infected with a virus.

Beware!

Take care, Cato

[Zaf]

Watch out for e-mails with attachments. I have Norton Anti-Virus / Norton Internet Security and my software is intercepting many viruses per day sent through e-mail. This sucks. :confused:

ZAFONIC

[PaceAdvantage]

Never open e-mails with attachments, unless you are 100% sure it ISN'T a virus.

Outlook Express (the newer version) has a security feature which will not expose you to ANY attachment, even if you DO open the e-mail.

Make sure you go into the security settings for Outlook Express and activiate this feature.

[penguinfan]

PA, if you don't mind, I have a newer version of Outlook Express that will not let me open any attachments, any idea how I open it if I want to? Kinda a pain in the ass to foreward it to my desktop and open it their.

Penguinfan

[JustRalph]

Outlook Express Attachment Blocking
Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express can be configured to block what Microsoft calls "unsafe" email attachment types1. Until the release of Outlook Express 6 service pack 1, this feature was disabled by default. With the new release being distributed through Windows Update, people may start finding that email attachments are unavailable to them.2

It is recommended that most people leave the feature enabled. Malicious use of these email attachment types is much more common than non-malicious use. For example, in March of 2002, the JMU email server handled 2607 messages with .exe attachments and 2376 of those were viruses. If you get an occasional email message with a blocked attachment type, inform the sender that your mail system will not accept such attachments and ask them to rename the attachment and resend it. The JMU email server already blocks some of these attachment types and there are plans to block more in the future.

If you find that you are unable to receive desired attachments on a regular basis and you cannot make other arrangements for a different filename format, you can reconfigure Outlook Express to allow these high risk attachments. If you do this, however, you will be exposed to both desired and undesired high risk attachments. Outlook Express cannot determine whether a particular attachment is desired and anti-virus software cannot protect you from new viruses. Please treat any unexpected high risk attachments with caution.

There are two ways to allow high risk attachments:

You can choose to enable delivery of only certain types of high risk attachments.
Click Start
Click Settings
Click Control Panel
Double-click Folder Options
Click the File Types Tab
Under the Extensions column, locate the extension of the attachment type that you would like to receive and highlight it. If the extension you would like to receive is not in this list, then you cannot disable receipt of only that attachment type. Instead, you will need to disable the unsafe attachment protection feature entirely as described in the second option below.
Click Advanced
Uncheck Confirm Open After Download
Click OK
You can choose to disable the unsafe attachment protection entirely in which case all types of high risk attachments will be delivered to you.3
Start Outlook Express
Select Options off the Tools menu
Click the Security tab
Under Virus Protection, uncheck the box labeled "Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened that could potentially be a virus".
Click OK
However you configure Outlook Express, please continue to follow RUNSAFE guidelines.

Additional information on security issues with Outlook, Outlook Express, and Internet Explorer can be found here.

Notes:
The documentation says the "unsafe file list includes any file types that may have script or code associated with them". However, Microsoft Office file types are not on the unsafe list even though they may include macros.
This version of Outlook Express will likely be installed on most people's computers as it is included with Internet Explorer service pack 1 and Windows XP service pack 1. These products will likely get installed at some point during a Windows Update visit. Because of the many serious defects in older versions, Internet Explorer 6 service pack 1 is the preferable version to be running.
The JMU email server attempts to block certain types of high risk email attachments from being delivered to your mailbox.

[Tom]

Wouldn't it just be better to write the damn email program with enough security to allow it to do what it was itended to do - accept email?
Bill Gates is truly amazing. Completely irresponsible, but nevertheless, amazing.
I certainly hope this European business costs MS through the nose. Culdn't happen to a more deserving corporation.:mad:

[headhawg]

Originally posted by Tom
Wouldn't it just be better to write the damn email program with enough security to allow it to do what it was itended to do - accept email?
Bill Gates is truly amazing. Completely irresponsible, but nevertheless, amazing.
I certainly hope this European business costs MS through the nose. Culdn't happen to a more deserving corporation.:mad:

I feel everyone's pain about M$, but let's be realistic. Are you really going to change your O/S? There are other options if you don't like Windows.

Let's see, there's a Mac. They don't appear to be as susceptible to attacks. Oh, wait a minute -- you mean you can't run HTR, HSH, ESROI or anything else good for that matter? Hmmmm.

Let's try Linux. Again, no apps to speak of, and experienced people can take hours to install device drivers -- yep, that's a good choice for the average user.

I've written this before in another post but it bears repeating: M$ is not inherently more vulnerable than any other O/S. Their software gets exposed and attacked more because of the popularity. They have about 90% of the market, so what O/S will I choose to attack if I want my virus to spread quickly and do the most damage? Go after the spammers, the attackers, the incompetent network admins, and (L)users who think that AOL is the Internet.

And if you don't like M$ products, try the alternative.

HH

[Tom]

I tink MS records of patches andpathes to undo what the last patch did is proof enough. they are irresponsible.
You cite there are other browser and email programs not suseptable?
Then, why, as a 90% market holder, is this technolog totally missing from MS products?
Gate's manipulating of marketing and contracts got him where he is today, not his product's superiority.

[headhawg]

Originally posted by Tom
I tink MS records of patches andpathes to undo what the last patch did is proof enough. they are irresponsible.
You cite there are other browser and email programs not suseptable?
Then, why, as a 90% market holder, is this technolog totally missing from MS products?
Gate's manipulating of marketing and contracts got him where he is today, not his product's superiority.

I wrote that other products appear to be less susceptible but really they are not. Linux is open source code. How safe do you think that is??

And I agree that Gates's forte is in creating the illusion that Windows is a superior product. But I can't fault him for that. Nobody put a gun to anyone's head when they purchased Windows.

Besides, Tom, I wouldn't be angry with you if you did the same thing and were worth billions. :)

[Tom]

Of course, I would never, ever make money at the expense of others! :rolleyes:
Well, not that much money.:D

[Brian Flewwelling]

Originally posted by Tom
Of course, I would never, ever make money at the expense of others! :rolleyes:
Well, not that much money.:D

so you will return my money when i bet into the same pool and you win?? :)

Tom you are a clever man and a great wit, but you do not understand the software industry.

Brian

[cj]

I send .exe files thru email all the time, usually zipped. Why would someone want to disable attachments? I would guess at least half of my sent and received emails have attachments with them. Common sense, i.e. knowing who sent a file and running a virus scan after downloading it, will prevent 99.9% of the virus problems. I should note I would never open an executable file I wasn't expecting and knew was coming ahead of time.

[PaceAdvantage]

The attachments are still there. They just become less easy to open by mistake.

[Zaf]

A while back, like a dummy I opened an attachment by accident and my internet security software alerted me to quarantine the file. Saved my butt. I am using Norton Internet Security / Norton Antivirus. Is this sufficient protection ? Are there better programs ?

ZAFONIC

[JustRalph]

Originally posted by zafonic
A while back, like a dummy I opened an attachment by accident and my internet security software alerted me to quarantine the file. Saved my butt. I am using Norton Internet Security / Norton Antivirus. Is this sufficient protection ? Are there better programs ? ZAFONIC

Zaf....you are doing well. I personally hate the Internet Security part of it. But it depends on your connection and setup. If you have a router installed in the loop.......you don't need it. If you don't ....leave it on. A word to the wise though.......when Norton Internet Security goes haywire........it can keep you from accessing many sites (sometimes all) but most commonly those that require encryption (banking etc) but the fix is easy.....you uninstall the Norton products and then reinstall. Usually that fixes it. FYI

[Larry Hamilton]

I am going to assume that there are writers of these programs who will one day get past attachments and will be able to just email you a bug.. You open it, you're screwed.

After that will be they send it, you got it ,no matter what you do.

All the virus prevention guys are behind the curve ALL the time.

My solution to the problem is one I would not have recommented some months ago, but now I have seen it work. I have a program called Drive Image. With this program you can make a mirror image of you C Drive (or any drive for that matter). Store it somewhere safe and at the hint of a problem, reload you whole C Drive.

With raid, 9 Gig loads in just over 6 minutes. What does this mean? I am just 6 minutes away from a new system all the time...screw the virus guys...

[Zaf]

Hey Ralph Thanks,

I haven't had any trouble with accessing sites. I have a high speed cable modem connection and every 15 minutes or so I get a message that something is trying to attack my computer (ex. Trojan Horse Shock Wave , Back Door Sub Seven etc.). Is this really true ? It seems a little over done. I mean I get a warning about every 15 minutes. Is this possible ?

ZAFONIC

[Zaf]

Hey Larry,

Where do you get this program ?

ZAFONIC

[Larry Hamilton]

http://www.powerquest.com/solutions/personal.cfm#protect

also, it is best to start with a known clean system. I mean, how much good would it do to have a perfect copy of a virus to reload and reload and reload.

[Zaf]

Larry,

If you have a 60 Gig hard drive and 50 Gigs are already occupied, how can you back up that much info ? I am assuming it compresses the info, right ? Can you back up all that info on a 700mb CD-R disc ? Excuse the questions from a computer illiterate.

ZAFONIC

[JustRalph]

Originally posted by zafonic
Hey Ralph Thanks,
I haven't had any trouble with accessing sites. I have a high speed cable modem connection and every 15 minutes or so I get a message that something is trying to attack my computer (ex. Trojan Horse Shock Wave , Back Door Sub Seven etc.). Is this really true ? It seems a little over done. I mean I get a warning about every 15 minutes. Is this possible ?ZAFONIC

It is accurate info Zaf. I would expect more attacks than that. I recommend you get a router (as low as 39 bucks) The router has a built in firewall that runs seperate from your machine. It acts as a blockade for your machine. It means that you don't have to load up software to protect your system.

The router and the logs it produces shows my machine getting hit about every minute or so. My activity light runs all the time.....meaning traffic is hitting me pretty much constantly. Some of it good stuff,,,,,most of it bad.

[Larry Hamilton]

As usual, Ralph is right on. Block em as best you can. I do with two firewalls.

The Direct Image is my fall back plan. It will copy (mirror) as much as you like. It will compress it 0%, 40% or 50% and SPAN it across an external hard drive, or a cd burner or a DVD burner.

What I said was I have a 9 gig C drive. The rest of the hard drive is partitioned into equal parts of a 120 gig hard drive. I gots plenty of room!

Being the careful man I am, I have one mirror copy on an external hard dvier, one on 15 cds (spanned) on on 2 dvds (spanned) and one on one of the partitions of the hard drive..maybe I should have said I am VERY careful...hehehe

One more thing, no matter how simple they tell you it is, it aint! But you gotta figure if a man who cant/wont read the instructions can do it, you can to ...

[Zaf]

Thanks for the advice guys ! Its much appreciated !

ZAFONIC