Klarinet Archive - Posting 000813.txt from 2000/12

From: "Mark Charette" <charette@-----.org>
Subj: Re: [kl] weird mail
Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2000 21:34:34 -0500

From: "Audrey Travis" <vsofan@-----.com>
> Ian - that is exactly the message or email address sent to me. Thank
goodness I did not open the
> attachnemt! Now, as asked previosly, how do I stop these messages or
build a *firewall*?

Audrey,
Other than _never_ opening attachments when you're not expecting any (even
from friends, since many times virus & worm programs "hijack" a computer and
use the address book to send emails) there are a few precautions for a home
user to take:

1) Buy _and regularly update_ an anti-virus program for your computer, even
a Mac. Set it up to check your email before you read it. (right, Roger G. ?
:^)
2) Ask your ISP to filter mail for you (they may or may not be able to do
so, though)
3) Use a non-Windows machine to read your mail (Macs have a few worms &
virii out there, but much fewer than Windows.) This is not a comment on
whether or not Windows is a good environment; rather, if I were an evil
hacker, I'd go for the most bang for the buck and ease of programming.
4) Use a public or commercial site that does the filtering for you (but
beware - I find that most of the time they're pretty lax in getting the
latest filter updates installed).
5) Give up on email :^)

Mark C.

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