Do you think a well-advertised, on-line hanging would be a deterrent?
--- In BoundaryPoint@y..., Bill Hanrahan <hanrahan@k...> wrote:
> On a discussion list for list managers at the moment, there is some
> discussion of viruses getting to list manager's respective groups.
Most of
> those discussing the virus question have disabled attachments in
the group
> settings for their respective groups. However, as you well know,
the
> attachment function is vital to BoundaryPoint's mission.
>
> A couple of weeks ago I received (privately) an email with an EXE
file
> attached. I promptly deleted the email. To receive a virus via an
> attachment is no big thing as long as the recipient doesn't open
it. My
> concern, and it may be misplaced, is that since attachments for the
list
> are allowed, at some point an attached virus may appear in a
regular
> posting. At that point most members will delete the attachment and
carry on
> but an occasional member might actually try to run the program
causing
> damage to that individual's computer.
>
> Such files are easy to identify as they end in .exe, .com .bat or
something
> like .asf. Receiving such a file only requires that you discard it
> immediately after looking at the file. The pictures we send that
open
> automatically in Outlook Express are rarely a problem though
imbedded code
> in a jpeg, gif or other graphics files can also cause problems in
the
> computer that executes these files. The case of imbedded code in a
picture
> is rare enough to not be a problem. To create imbedded code in a
graphics
> file is much more trouble than the writers of virus programs want
to go to.
> The "command" or "Macro" way is much easier and these people are
not into
> work, just mayhem. The biggest virus problem is the "command" or
> "execution" files that can be potentially sent as an email
> attachment. Luckily, this type of attachment would seem to be rare
for a
> BoundaryPoint posting. However, viruses associated with word
processing
> documents (.doc files in MS Word, for example) could appear in list
> postings. Those of you who receive your email through a company
network
> server should have virus protection in place or you should fire
your
> systems guy. Moreover, viruses like "Melissa" operate most
successfully in
> these systems where the word processor program, like Word or Word
Perfect
> is also your email program. These Word Processors contain utilities
called
> Macros that while very helpful if you know how to use them, can be
also
> detrimental if told to do something destructive by a virus program.
>
> Even if you were to actually try to run an attached virus file, a
good
> virus checker program like Norton or McAfee should catch it
immediately (if
> up to date) and disable the virus. The caveat here is that you must
keep
> your antivirus program up to date. Yahoo also has virus protection
in place
> but nothing is perfectly foolproof.
>
> Let's all be careful out there!