Infected e-mails

[Tefler]

We are getting a lot of e-mails, sometimes from addresses of people we know, sometimes from people we don't know, which have infected attachments. They are caught by our antivirus, but it's very annoying when half of the messages are viruses. The most common virus we're being sent seems to be W32.NetskyD, but other Netskys are also a problem. I've run a Norton virus scan and another recommended on this site, and neither have found anything wrong with our system. So, the questions: Where are the viruses coming from? Why are we getting so many? How come some of the places they are purporting to come from are secure sites in my address book?

[Hippy]

Unfortunately, this is now a fact of life. As a business user, our company recieves about 80 - 85% junk mail to 20 - 15% real stuff and that does not count the literally hundreds of infected messages that the anti-virus programme catches and dumps without passing them on to the server. I get a daily report of anti-virus activity, and it is remorseless onslaught.

I think this will continue for so long as reckless humans on the planet produce children. These pink fluffy things develop into teenagers (sometimes a condition continuing well into chronological thirties!) who think it is "fun" and "new" and "progressive" to flood cybespace with destructive code rather than join the rest of the civilised world and co-operate towards a better and more meaniningful future.

Do not concern yourself about where these virus messages come from, there are clever ways to disguise these messages as trusted people. Just delet and forget, and pass on to something a bit more productive.

It is most unlikely that your computer is infected if you use an anti-virus programme to check incoming mail and scan your machine periodically. Remember to keep your virus definitions up to date and do your bit to stem the tide of naughty code.

[dodgyshirt]

Well put Hippy. The latest viruses latch on to an address book sending themselves out to everyone on it and then cross-pollinate so to speak so that you end up getting infected messages not only from people you know but also people that know the people you know etc. etc. By the way Tefler nothing in your address book can be a secure site, they are simply addresses of people you write to.

[Tefler]

Thanks, Hippy and Dodgy, you've calmed my nerves there a bit. As for the 'secure sites', what I meant was that some of the addresses are for companies with extremely secure e-mail systems: fire walls, antivirus scanning, the whole shebang. I know that doesn't mean that they are inpenetrable, but they are pretty trustworthy places to get messages from - usually!

[dodgyshirt]

Thats the point I was clumsily trying to make, the infected e-mails are not necessarily from those sites but from people who have the secure-site addresses within their address books.

[Tefler]

Aha! Now I understand! Thanks again!