Updates aim to defuse Bagle ploy

TalkBack 16 of 23:

Next »

« Previous

• Thread View
• Flat View

Re: Unknown senders

"3. Do not open email attachments from unknown sources. PERIOD! If you do not know how sent it and why, it?s not important. To the trash it goes. It?s nice to see the anti-virus vendors respond with the new encryption scanning, but even so, just junk attachments from the unknown."

While this is good advice, with the current crop of viruses, it is nearly irrelevant. More and more viruses are forging the send line, so it may APPEAR to be from someone you know. I find applying horse (I'd call it common, but it seems in reality it is rare) sense to be more applicable:

1) If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. At best, you won't get what you're looking for, at worst you'll get your identity stolen.

2) If they can't spell, its probably a virus.

3) If the verbiage isn't sufficiently long and specific for you to identify the message as typical language of your friends/acquaintances about a topic on which you are likely to converse, its probably a virus.

4) Attachments should be saved off and manually scanned with your AV package.

You'll note that three of these four bits involve some level of intuition, and cannot be programmed into av software. The fourth is just self-protective paranoia.

Posted by: Rabid Conservative   Posted on: 03/05/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

Alert moderator to an offensive message

Subscribe to this discussion via Email or RSS

SponsoredWhite Papers, Webcasts, and Downloads

• VMware Infrastructure: A Guide to Bottom-Line Benefits VMware Frustrated by the costs of maintain ever larger data centers?or building ... Download Now
• Virtualization: Architectural Considerations And Other Evaluation Criteria VMware Of the many approaches to x86 systems virtualization available in the ... Download Now
• The Impact of Virtualization Software on Operating Environments VMware Today's use of virtualization technology allows IT professionals to ... Download Now