Virus Outbreak: More E-Mail Worms Are Set Loose

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Maybe it's the weirdness of having 29 days in February or some misplaced glee that spring is coming, but for whatever reason virus writers went on a rampage during the last week, unleashing more than a half-dozen new viruses.

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[Philippe Cordier]

I don't understand why there is so much of this happening.

My understanding is that viruses are transmitted only through e-mail attachments and that you can't pick one up surfing the web ... Someone told me that if you use Microsoft Outlook for e-mail, simply opening the e-mail also opens the attachment.  You'd think Microsoft would change the way that works!  Fortunately I am not using Outlook, but to be safe am also deleting e-mails from addresses/persons I'm not familiar with.

[Raineypark]

Someone told me that if you use Microsoft Outlook for e-mail, simply opening the e-mail also opens the attachment. 

I use Outlook and I've never had an attachment open unless I actually opened it myself.

[Philippe Cordier]

Now that I think of it, I have used both Outlook and Outlook Express -- one at a job and one for school, though I don't remember which was which.  And I remember both opening attachments manually AND * occasionally * finding that a photo attachment (it seems to me this only happened with photo attachments, not text documents) already appeared at the bottom of the message without my opening anything separately.  I remember being somewhat puzzled as that didn't happen all the time, and as I mention it seems this only happened with photos for some reason.

[Mark Rainey]

Someone told me that if you use Microsoft Outlook for e-mail, simply opening the e-mail also opens the attachment.

Lots of viruses take advantage of flaws in earlier versions of Microsoft Outlook/Outlook Express (particularly any version prior to 6.0), which allowed certain attachments to automatically open. Microsoft's newer versions and subsequent patches have pretty much eliminated the threat of attachments opening themselves, but there are always those who, for reasons unknown, don't take it upon themselves to update their systems.

Also--hackers are continually finding new (or previously undiscovered) flaws in Microsoft's programs, so one cannot simply accept on faith that not opening attachments will keep you safe. Microsoft security updates are sort of a hassle, but they should not be ignored.

I've been using Mozilla for Web browsing and email for about a year now, and I'm hooked. Also, since I stopped using Internet Explorer/Outlook Express, my computer performance has improved considerably. After I installed IE/OE 6.0 a couple of years ago, I had lots of problems with the computer locking up, especially right at shutdown, forcing me to manually turn off the machine. From the day I started using Mozilla exclusively, that problem completely went away.

There are a few things about Mozilla--mostly the way it displays certain graphics--that aren't quite as pretty as IE, but the trade-off on performance and the fact that it isn't vulnerable to the IE/OE exploits has made it more than worthwhile.

--Mark

[Patti Feinberg]

Now that I think of it, I have used both Outlook and Outlook Express -- one at a job and one for school, though I don't remember which was which.  And I remember both opening attachments manually AND * occasionally * finding that a photo attachment (it seems to me this only happened with photo attachments, not text documents) already appeared at the bottom of the message without my opening anything separately.  I remember being somewhat puzzled as that didn't happen all the time, and as I mention it seems this only happened with photos for some reason.

Vlad, me too 

(particularly any version prior to 6.0), which allowed certain attachments to automatically open. Microsoft's newer versions and subsequent patches have pretty much eliminated the threat of attachments opening themselves,

Mark, my 'puter's only a year old and it's running 6.0, but, it automatically opens. I even right click & hit delete sometimes, but it still has that small window  of opportunity, where, I suppose anything could get on.

But, thanks again for the good advise everyone...Spyware is running pretty well.

Patti

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Also--hackers are continually finding new (or previously undiscovered) flaws in Microsoft's programs

And now that much of its code has shown up on the 'Net, they're only going to be able to exploit Windows' vulnerabilities even more...

There are a few things about Mozilla--mostly the way it displays certain graphics--that aren't quite as pretty as IE, but the trade-off on performance and the fact that it isn't vulnerable to the IE/OE exploits has made it more than worthwhile.

The converse is true as well. IE (even IE6) can sometimes completely screw up certain Web page presentation code. It's enough to drive any Webmaster insane.  :-   And if Microsoft sticks to the bizarre notion of never updating IE again, things are only going to get worse as new presentation features are developed.

As far as Mozilla goes, it works really well and has been garnering some of the best industry reviews...

[Philippe Cordier]

One of the IT guys enlightened me about Mozilla, too, so now I have both Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.  I had never heard of Mozilla before.  I do like it, but sometimes it seems that IE works a little better for me.  I haven't had time to customize my Mozilla browser yet, though.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

One of the IT guys enlightened me about Mozilla, too, so now I have both Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.

Mozilla Firefox (ne Firebird) isn't the same version of Mozilla as the regular browser. Firefox is aimed more toward Web site developers/Webmasters. So, you may want to download/try out Mozilla 1.6 to see if you prefer that.