Guest guest Posted May 4, 2000 Report Share Posted May 4, 2000 Namaste, There are quite a few REAL computer viruses going around these days. Today, a virus called " ILOVEYOU " infected the computer systems in US senate and the British House of Commons. If the PC of someone who has this list in his/her address book is infected with this virus, everyone on the list is going to get this message. These days, viruses are getting pretty destructive. Perhaps not everyone here is computer-savvy and I thought I would present some facts for your information. [Warning: These are based on the best of my knowledge. But I am not responsible for any misinformation. Verify this information before you make use of it.] (1) Just by getting or viewing an infected message, you will not infect your computer. (2) However, if the infected message comes with an attachment and you open the attachment, then you will infect your PC. It is a good habit to NOT open an attachment unless you make sure that it doesn't contain a virus. (3) Viruses need not travel only through .exe files, though that is more common. For example, the attachment in the case of the " ILOVEYOU " virus is a Visual Basic Script file (*.vbs). It is a safe habit to view any attachment you get with suspicion. (4) Even if the other person is a close friend, his/her mail can be a virus. If (s)he opened an attachment containing this virus, the virus may automatically mail *itself* to everyone on his/her address book. It typically emails a simple and innocuous guideline as the main body of the email and a malicious virus as an attachment. (5) If you detach the attachment and scan it with an anti-virus program before opening the attachment, it is better but NOT enough. That way, you can protect yourself only against those viruses that use patterns that were handled in your anti-virus program. Virus scan may NOT be able to catch new viruses! The best (and perhaps the only) reliable method to make sure that an attachment is geuine is to call or email the sender and ask him if HE really sent that attachment. May Jupiter's light shine on us, Narasimha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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