On Sat, 27 Mar 1999, Don Yates wrote:
>
> Well, sure -- there ARE real computer viruses. Still, you can't get 'em
> (and that goes for this Melissa virus) by opening plain ol' email. You
> can only get 'em by opening attached files (like the Word file attachment
> that's spreading the Melissa virus). In other words, NEVER open an
> attached file (unless it's from a source you trust), and you'll never have
> to worry about gettin' computer viruses by using email.--don
Ah, but that's the beauty of this particular virus - once it's in place,
it propagates itself to people known to the owner of the computer it's
infected. (The information I've seen so far suggests that it raids the
address books of email programs, but it's possible that it uses other
methods.)
Thus, one has to be a little more careful than usual. If I saw a message
from a coworker with an attachment claiming to be a document I requested,
I might get infected- if:
- I wasn't healthily paranoid about viruses and attachments;
- I didn't scan downloaded attachments before opening them with
their utility;
- I didn't use a Macintosh. (Bwahahahahahaha! Not to start a
platform war here, but I'm very happy that the vast majority
of the world's bitter, alienated coders with a chip on their
shoulder use Intel iron...)
I think 'healthily paranoid' should be the watchword. Don't open
documents directly out of your email program- save them to your disk and
scan them first, using a frequently-updated virus utility.
Proud proponent of seatbelts, condoms, firewalls, and virus scanners,
Tom
