Warning!

[philippe]

There is now in Asia a big virus plague.
it is a worm in a e mail with as titlre:your password.
If you find Any E mail with this title delete it and DO NOT OPEN IT!!!!!!!!!!!!
So any e mails with tile:your password must be deleted and not be opened or else hackers will have acces to your computer even if you have a firewall or virus scanner.
t

 

[Zwelgje]

I think it's OK to open the mail, just don't open the attachments or am I wrong about this??? The attachment is an .exe file BTW.

 

[IceBlaZe]

If you have an unpatched Outlook (Express or Regular), a script inside the e-mail source code will run the attachment automatically.

So no, it is not OK to open the mail.
But it is also much less worse than philippe's description, search for info about it in trendmicro.com if you wish.

 

[AVN]

Starlifter,

Please give your opinion.
In general I follow civ1-addict's policy.

Am I wrong or right in doing that ?

Please clarify.

BTW : I'm an Internet-newbie

 

[Zwelgje]

Originally posted by IceBlaZe
If you have an unpatched Outlook (Express or Regular), a script inside the e-mail source code will run the attachment automatically.

So no, it is not OK to open the mail.
But it is also much less worse than philippe's description, search for info about it in trendmicro.com if you wish.

Thanks for the info!

 

[Pliny The Elder]

Why in the world would anyone use LookOut Distress? It's a virus farm. I use web-based email, and just go directly to the site(s), also, I use Mozilla, which doesn't support ActiveX. Disable any scripting, although, many sites will not work, w/o Java enabled :-(

 

[damunzy]

Oh no, please no virus warnings! Argh, never know if they are realy or fake. You can normally tell if an email is real or fake by reading the title. Use Web based email and you pretty much have nothing to worry about. With hotmail.com you can set it up to only accept from email addresses that you enter in - That makes it really safe.

 

[starlifter]

Starlifter,

Please give your opinion.
In general I follow civ1-addict's policy.

Am I wrong or right in doing that ?

Please clarify.

BTW : I'm an Internet-newbie

I just noticed this thread.... must have missed it earlier somehow.

My personal solution is to avoid using MS e-mail programs because they have many vulnerabilities to attack, and MS is always one or two steps behind hackers. MS does usually release a patch once a particular exploit causes enough damage or gets enough adverse publicity.... but the user must constantly check and update.

With any e-mail program, you do not want to open an attachment unless you are sure of the sender. Never open an unsolicited attachment. With MS e-mail (e.g., Outloook), it is quite possible to activate a virus by opening the e-mail itself, but the virus of course must be designed to do this. Most do not.... every virus is designed to activate, propagate, and cause damage in its own way.

I use Eudora as my e-mail program, and have since the early 1990's. It is not immune to viruses, but far less susceptible because many viruses are written specifically to target users of Outlook and Outlook Express.

The other thing to do of course is to run an anti-virus program, and keep the virus definitions up to date.


Ideally:
1. Don't use MS Outlook/OE.
2. Don't open e-mail you're not sure about.
3. Never open an attachment you're not sure about.
4. Use an antivirus program.
5. Make sure you scan any incoming attachment for viruses.

 

[Lostman]

I make it real easy, If I don't know who it's from, or I'm not expecting it, I won't open it.

I have 2 emails for spam (yahoo has a great spam filter) and 2 for private use.

Screw outlook.

 

[IceBlaZe]

Screw web based e-mail, screw hotmail.

I use totalise, they have a web based interface AND the ability to use it with e-mail programs AND 50MB (!!!) storage space.

And I trust them for reliability since they are an ISP, they only setback is the co.uk ending.

 

[Pongui]

The unexpected e-mails from people you know can contain virus (sent without their knowing). A virus e-mail may have a likely subject like "important!", or "I love you", and it's a shame to delete these! Encourage your friends to write unique, specific subject headings, perhaps including a signature character like "+" to make it clear they wrote it.