At 06:04 PM 5/3/01 +0200, David Grossman wrote the following:
>Jeff, your comment brought me out of my lengthy hibernation.
>I accept the part of your comment about the virus scanner.
>However, I'm always amazed by the second recommendation.
>Do people whom you know have fewer viruses than those you don't know?
Clueless ones always have viruses and send them. I see them all the time,
Lately I'm getting the HaHa Sexy Fun (Snow White) virus about once a week
from various sources. However, I have this going directly to dev/null in
UNIX using my procmail filter.
>Is a file safe because you know the sender?
Yes. I can guarantee you that if you asked me to send you a file, it would
be virus free.
I've never had a virus on my PC at home or at work since my first machine
in 1978. Anyone who knows me, for instance previous co-workers, students
I've taught, or people I've helped on this list or other lists I belong to,
trust me.
>Do you really know, check, and verify what is going on inside the computers
>of people whom you know?
No but some virus scanners, like AVG, now add footers that show the
attachment has been scanned and is virus free. Same thing for some
of the download sites.
>I have seen this recommendation many times, and I never understood the logic
>behind it.
I know other people like myself and I trust them to send me files. In fact,
there is a whole group of us (ex-employees, retirees, and current employees
of my previous company) that send executable files around to and from one
another. Most of this is programs that we "hack out" in a our spare time. It
used to be Basic and Pascal but now is C++ and C. If the program is
interesting enough then the code is requested but, in general, the executable
is sent first. Some of the hacks result from problem solving at work. None
of use have either sent or received a virus in over 5 years as a group.
--
Gerry Boyd -- [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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