Death
gh0d (Administrator)
Judging from the annoyingly high number of hits (read: more than zero) at chatzone@ of infected machines trying to spread their infections, it's apparently necessary to cover some basics of protecting oneself from getting their computer infected.
First off, don't run strange files attached to e-mails from people whom you don't know.
Second, even if you do recognize the sender's address, before you open up any attachment, ask yourself this one question:
Third: get an antivirus program. Which one you get is pretty much a personal issue, but when shopping around for AV programs look for things like how often the virus definitions are updated, how fast new threats are reacted to, and the ease of updating your system's definitions (after all, many won't do something if it's a hassle to do, even if doing it will keep Bad Things™ from happening).
Fourth, for those of you running Outlook Express, disable the preview window. Microsoft, in its infinite wisdom *cough*, decided that the preview window should be allowed to execute code automatically, without any further action on the user's part. Anyone who realizes the internet in general is not an extention of the MS corporate intranet, and that there are more than a few Not Nice™ people out there, should be able to figure out why auto-execution is bad. This obviously excludes Microsoft coders, or at the very least the management idiots that tell them what features to put in.
Fifth, later versions of OE (4.7 onwards, I believe) have, buried deep in the configuration, the option to treat anything viewed through OE as being in the Restricted Zone, and apply IE's Restricted Zone rules, which should cut down on a lot of the hassles. (Optionally, edit RZ rules so that all the "prompt" selections are changed to "disabled".)
Finally and most importantly, USE YOUR FREAKING BRAIN. Apply a bit of common sense (or find someone who has that increasingly rare attribute) to anything you get in the mail. Not only obvious stuff like viruses, but for the "friend of a friend" forwardings, various e-mail hoaxes, and assorted trivial crap that tends to clutter one's e-mail inbox. Be considerate of the person at the other end of the copper/fiber/etc; don't abuse the privilege (that is what being able to send another person e-mail is: a privelege, not a right) of being able to talk to them, or else you'll lose it.
First off, don't run strange files attached to e-mails from people whom you don't know.
Second, even if you do recognize the sender's address, before you open up any attachment, ask yourself this one question:
If you can't answer the question, then don't run the file, period. If in doubt about whether the known person intended to send it, either assume that they didn't intend to send it (more than a few viruses/worms/etc out there have the ability to send mail independent of operator action) and treat it as a potential virus, or write back to them and ask what's up. Chances are that, if the sent message is from an infection, the other party may not even know it was sent.Why is this being sent to me?
Third: get an antivirus program. Which one you get is pretty much a personal issue, but when shopping around for AV programs look for things like how often the virus definitions are updated, how fast new threats are reacted to, and the ease of updating your system's definitions (after all, many won't do something if it's a hassle to do, even if doing it will keep Bad Things™ from happening).
Fourth, for those of you running Outlook Express, disable the preview window. Microsoft, in its infinite wisdom *cough*, decided that the preview window should be allowed to execute code automatically, without any further action on the user's part. Anyone who realizes the internet in general is not an extention of the MS corporate intranet, and that there are more than a few Not Nice™ people out there, should be able to figure out why auto-execution is bad. This obviously excludes Microsoft coders, or at the very least the management idiots that tell them what features to put in.
Fifth, later versions of OE (4.7 onwards, I believe) have, buried deep in the configuration, the option to treat anything viewed through OE as being in the Restricted Zone, and apply IE's Restricted Zone rules, which should cut down on a lot of the hassles. (Optionally, edit RZ rules so that all the "prompt" selections are changed to "disabled".)
Finally and most importantly, USE YOUR FREAKING BRAIN. Apply a bit of common sense (or find someone who has that increasingly rare attribute) to anything you get in the mail. Not only obvious stuff like viruses, but for the "friend of a friend" forwardings, various e-mail hoaxes, and assorted trivial crap that tends to clutter one's e-mail inbox. Be considerate of the person at the other end of the copper/fiber/etc; don't abuse the privilege (that is what being able to send another person e-mail is: a privelege, not a right) of being able to talk to them, or else you'll lose it.