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It's not that simple
Outlook and Outlook Express, at least the most recent versions with the most recent patches, will block you from executing or even saving to disk any executable file. The 50 or so of this MyDoom I've gotten with a .pif extension are completely blocked by Outlook.

The problem is the 150 or so MyDoom viruses (actually trojan horse) I've gotten with a .zip extension are not blocked. For that to be executed, one must open the zip file, extract its contents, and manually execute them, despite all popup warnings advising you against doing such things.

True, having an admin password would stop someone in a business environment in which employees dumb enough to manually execute an unfamiliar file would no have the password. But what about people at home? They may not run as admin all the time, but if they have a password handy and are dumb enough to have run the trojan horse without a password, what would stop them from running it WITH one?
Posted by: Michael Kelly   Posted on: 01/29/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use
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From Russia with Love  OhMyGosh | 01/28/04
Please ...  Suicida| | 01/28/04
either way...  stephen732@... | 01/29/04
Business case  MarcB_z | 01/29/04
logic?  nikoli | 01/29/04
MS Shoots Themselves In Foot w/ Bad Software  claytonmuhler | 01/29/04
THE REAL REASON,  ryusen | 01/29/04
Mr. Gates, Sir, are these the TCO "facts" you're talking about?  Xunil_Sierutuf | 01/28/04
Gates: Why YES, my comrade! Total cost to the world: just few billion!!!  Bobby Sskcat | 01/28/04
"Anyone with half a brain..."  tbo_z | 01/30/04
freedom to fail?  cabbot | 01/30/04
you are right this time  JWatson77 | 02/02/04
MyDoom virus declared worst ever  Loverock Davidson | 01/28/04
Funny  doe_z | 01/28/04
LOL, he doesn't like Linux  nikoli | 01/29/04
Re-read the posts, dude. Doe is right.  dicktaurus@... | 01/29/04
Breaking down his post...  doe_z | 01/29/04
Unfortunately, Lovey isn't kidding, judging from his/her/its posts...  dicktaurus@... | 01/29/04
Oh, and it is indeed!  Bobby Sskcat | 01/28/04
Childish MS shill  NoB$ | 01/28/04
He's not an MS shill  Suicida| | 01/28/04
Well, he CLAIMS to be a BSD shill.  DanIelWalker_z | 01/29/04
At any rate  zd-spam | 01/29/04
tsch?  Immanuel Tranz-Mischen | 01/29/04
and you believe that?  ryusen | 01/29/04
And what is wrong with BSD's  FreeBSD | 01/29/04
No issue with BSD  ryusen | 01/29/04
back in the DOS days  JWatson77 | 01/29/04
And what if somebody releases the Loverock virus?  George Jay | 01/29/04
They already have...look...  Bobby Sskcat | 01/29/04
funny thought  ryusen | 01/29/04
(NT) Brilliant Comment!  George Jay | 01/30/04
(NT) Brilliant Comment!  George Jay | 01/30/04
funny story  copygod74 | 01/28/04
Not that..  Bobby Sskcat | 01/28/04
What's even funnier!  MkIIISupra | 01/29/04
No problems here  jfrankcarr | 01/29/04
Re: No problems here  PottHead | 01/29/04
If I had to make a choice  Chad_z | 01/29/04
everything i needed to know about virus protection I learned in Kindergarte  kenlars99 | 01/28/04
But this is ridiculous. It's not even particularly original.  DanIelWalker_z | 01/29/04
Not really  Fred Fredrickson | 01/29/04
It's not that simple  Michael Kelly | 01/29/04
Microsoft : As approved by apathetic sheep  jellyclock | 01/29/04
Life is strange  nikoli | 01/29/04
No Income Tax????  vferrara | 01/29/04
NOT apathetic, nor a sheep  heatherxh | 01/30/04
MS Announces New Security Feature  Chad_z | 01/29/04
MS should do something about it!  dg mh | 01/29/04
RE: MS should do something about it!  XunilLinux | 01/29/04
Reading Replies  mstump | 01/29/04
The best lies are always syntactically perfect  jellyclock | 01/29/04
American English  ryusen | 01/29/04
re: The best lies are always syntactically perfect  mpol1@... | 01/30/04
English  jpivonka@... | 01/30/04
re : The best lies are always syntactically perfect  JWatson77 | 02/02/04
Sorry  tic swayback | 01/30/04
Good Grief.... no professionalism here!  TTate | 01/29/04
In the spirit of focusing on solutions -  jpivonka@... | 01/30/04
Just a walk in the park.  Yen_z | 01/29/04
MS security better != worst virus ever  rgriffith64@... | 01/29/04
Looks that way from here...  doctormoriarty | 01/29/04
Class Action Against BILL GATES AND HIS COMPANY  MoYoToSoTo | 01/29/04
What are you talking about?  KTLA | 01/29/04
Dude, a monopolist doesn't have to answer to customers!  dicktaurus@... | 01/29/04
Lawsuits (the topic of this thread)  KTLA | 01/29/04
Dude you know what's going on.  beafeater | 02/01/04
Worst Ever? - Not Here  davidwills@... | 01/29/04
The worst by its cost  verdy.p | 01/30/04
THis i snot Microsoft's fault, it is the USERS fault  keithfletcher | 01/29/04
Microsoft apologists re-use the same tired argument  jellyclock | 01/29/04
Common back to the real world  voska | 01/29/04
Blaming Users  bit_rot | 01/29/04
The system isn't broken  voska | 01/29/04
Way Past Broken  bit_rot | 01/29/04
50% Rule  jpivonka@... | 01/30/04
I'm a user and it is NOT my fault  MarcB_z | 01/29/04
Grow Up!!!  vferrara | 01/29/04
He didn't say it.  Immanuel Tranz-Mischen | 01/29/04
click good/click bad  rgriffith64@... | 01/29/04
I don't agree with that one bit  voska | 01/29/04
MS system not robust  rgriffith64@... | 01/29/04
Put the blame where it belongs!  ShadeTree | 01/29/04
Nope, they are heroes  rapson | 01/29/04
Voska, you are forgetting the most important thing!  jjon2121 | 01/29/04
You are attacking MS's business model  jpivonka@... | 01/30/04
MSIE vulnerabilities - a bit off topic, but --  jpivonka@... | 01/30/04
On the other hand --  jpivonka@... | 01/30/04
Wrong! Microsoft operates Hotmail.com and is responsable  verdy.p | 01/30/04
Worst Ever, Yes, But for MS User!!!  brenthawkinsmd | 01/29/04
Thanks God  michael-t | 01/29/04
It's not just virus-carrier emails, it's system notices too  nedguy | 01/29/04
No magnitude needed for  verdy.p | 01/30/04
At some point worst ever is going to happen.  nite_w0lf | 01/29/04
System Test  ParadigmOdyssey | 01/29/04
Biggest Security Threat is: The User  robbcravens@... | 01/29/04
Wrong: biggest security threat comes from mailservers  verdy.p | 01/30/04
Who actually opens the attachment, though?  alt130 | 02/02/04
It seems the Virus is manipulating header information  G.A.L. | 01/30/04
Please campaign to NEVER bounce failed email deliveries  verdy.p | 01/30/04
The peer-to-peer effect of bounced virus/spam alerts  verdy.p | 01/30/04
Don't make your mailserver part of a P2P infection mesh  verdy.p | 01/30/04
Bounced alerts do have some business value  TTate | 01/30/04
even in that case  verdy.p | 01/30/04
Legal penalties also for large bogous SMTP servers  verdy.p | 01/30/04
Add Hotmail.com to bogous servers  verdy.p | 01/30/04
THERE IS NO END ALL, BE ALL...  ambiguity | 01/30/04
Is it really the virus or the sys ops and tools  interserve | 01/30/04
Worst by what standard?  agottschald | 01/30/04
The worst is till to come...  verdy.p | 01/30/04
We will not like the real solution to theses problems.  agottschald | 01/30/04
How does the FBI fight viruses?  mlindl | 01/30/04
The worst?  Dave P. | 01/31/04
Microsoft's downfall in progress  beafeater | 02/01/04

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