Newsletter ArchiveSUBJECT:E-Mail Virus Welcome to The Internet 800 Directory Newsletter. In last week's newsletter, I sent out a warning about a new e-mail exploitation that allows others the ability to spy on you. Monday, several of our readers sent me the new e-mail virus Kournikova. This new virus works just like the LoveLetter virus that was making it rounds several weeks back. Here is how these viruses work. First, you receive an e-mail with an attachment (in the current Kournikova case, the attachment reads AnnaKournikova.jpg.vbs). Next, you open the file, thinking it's a picture. Finally, your machine is infected. When your machine gets infected, it sends an e-mail to everyone in your address book with the virus as an attachment. If any of the recipients open the attachment you sent, it starts all over again. These types of viruses don't do any real harm to your computer. However, when you send the virus to your peers, employees and customers, it can be extremely embarrassing. The damage to your reputation is often times more costly than having your computer crash. It hurts your credibility. The people that become infected will probably blame you. At the very least, anyone to whom you sent the virus will probably view future email from you suspiciously, even if they were not infected. No matter how you look at it, this can certainly harm many of your relationships. One of the old rules to help people from becoming infected with viruses is, "Don't open an attachment unless you know the sender". In the case of Kournikova, the virus is most likely sent to you by someone you know or with whom you have exchanged e-mail. These new viruses count on you being less cautious, because you recognize the sender. Don't fall prey. Some people think their virus software will automatically protect them. In the case of the AnnaKournikova virus, I saved it to my machine, ran a virus scan, and it came back clean. This is a new virus and was not yet in the virus software's database of viruses. So how can we protect ourselves? When writing this, I started to create a list of rules, but I did not include it because it was becoming very long and technical. Instead, let me give you these simple rules; Don't open an attachment if you didn't ask for it to be sent to you. If you receive an unsolicited attachment, call the person and ask why and what they sent you. If you don't know the person that sent it, delete it. Last, check all attachments with your virus software before opening. If you were infected with AnnaKournikova virus, then visit the link below. It will tell you how to remove the virus from your machine. Also you might want to send this link to anyone that you may have infected (everyone in your address book). http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/vbs.sst@mm.html All Contents Copyright ©1995-2001 The Internet 800 Directory Subscribe To The Newsletter: |