[BC] is some new virus out there?

[WFIFeng@aol.com]

In a message dated 11/27/2005 1:39:44 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
bbrister at sbcglobal.net writes:

> The old axiom of not opening attachments is still true. That is the way the
>  vast majority of viruses are propagated. In addition to keeping your virus
>  definitions up to date you should never open attachments from unknown
>  sources. If you get one from a trusted source that you want to open you can
>  always have your antivirus program scan it individually.
>  

I would absolutely disable the "Preview pane" (Pain) in Outlook, because that 
is the "kiss of death" when it comes to virus penetration. These virus code 
writers specifically target their malicious code to that "feature" to exploit 
it at every opportunity. When Microsoft releases another patch, you can be 
almost certain that the hackers have discovered another work-around, and will 
again be attacking it with impunity.

My suggestion is to use any *other* e-mail client softwere *but* Outlook (or 
Express) since they are the ones that are right in the center of the 
malcontents' crosshairs. "Thunderbird" by the Mozilla.org group is a good one. There is 
also one called "Pegasus" and a few others.

For now, though, the easiest thing to do is to disable the "Preview pane" and 
set your e-mail to "Plain text" (if it isn't already). The virus code takes 
advantage of all of the "features" (read: Gaping Security Holes) in 
HTML-enabled e-mail to do its dirty work.

People sometimes chide me for using AOL. Even moreso because I am using 
version 5.0 (they are currently up to 9.0) for all of my e-mail. I let them laugh. 
When the latest virus is swarming the 'net, crashing/infecting millions of 
systems, bombarding every inbox in the World, including mine, I can laugh at it 
with impunity. There is no possible way for it to penetrate this older 
technology, because this software completely ignores HTML embedded within e-mail. 
Also, *any* file that is attached sits completely harmlessly on AOL's server, and 
lights-up a "Download" button on my mail window. If I never click that button, 
that code will never enter my system. Period. Instead, I forward it to AOL's 
technical staff to examine, then gleefully delete it. All done.

This is not meant as a boast, it is absolute truth. I have been very active 
online since the mid 1990's. Never once, has a virus ever infested *any* system 
within my sphere of influence. One reason is my insistance that we all stick 
with AOL 5.0, and the other is the *regardless* of who sent the attachment, if 
it is not expected, *do not* download it: Forward it to me. Only 3 or 4 times 
in the past 5 years, has any one of my co-workers needed to Fwd a suspicious 
file, and none have ever been downloaded. HTML-infected e-mails merely appear 
on our screens as a jumble of computer gibberish. They get promptly deleted.

Oh, and BTW, I do not have any antivirus programs installed on *any* of these 
systems, either. 
The score thus far: Us, 100. Viruses, Zero.

Willie...