Marcus, Ok, two things: 1. in that virus alert i forwarded the exact email i got from pc support desk at the company i work for. You see, our firm got hit by the virus yesterday morning and from what i hear we lost quite a few files on the network just because one of sysadmins opened the attachment. The virus targeted microsoft products by deleting files created in Word Excel, etc. Anyway, if this is not enough the company my girlfriend works for got hit with this virus on Thursday night. dunno how much of a disaster it was. 2. I promise i will never forward any virus alerts to any of the lists. Instead i will only share these warnings with people i care about and those trust my care for them. Let's get back to Logic Regards, James --- Markus McCulloch <markusm@...> wrote: > From: "Markus McCulloch" <markusm@...> > > Surely the *text* in an email message is not the > best way of identifying a > virus? Like with the "Happy99.exe" virus - this was > the name of the > attachment, not the text itself. Besides, if you > could identify a trojan > (trojan? I think it's called a trojan) by the *text* > in the email, it would > mean it had been sent to you maliciously by some > sort of spambot - By their > very nature, these virii attach themselves to > private emails without the > user's knoweledge, so the text therein would be > whatever the sender had > written to you. > > On the other hand, there are lots of fake virus > alerts going round. The idea > is to make everyone panic about a virus that doesn't > exist, and propogate > the email warning about it - kind of like a twisted > chain-letter. In this > sense the email itself becomes like a virus in that > the unsuspecting good > summaritan forwards it in good faith. > > Perhaps there should be a message that says; > > "Virus Alert!!!! > Don't open any anonymous emails titled 'Virus > Alert!!!' as they often > contain bogus warnings . Check out CERT'swebsite for > up-to date info on > virii." > > But getting back to the subject - James - I hope you > don't feel I'm picking > on you - it's very admirable that you care enough to > want to warn people. > But personally, I'd like to see the name of the > attchment before I begin to > worry about this one. > > Also, I don't pretend to know everything about virii > (by a long stretch), so > maybe there *is* a virus that sends whole emails > which contain text *and* an > attachment, (as opposed to just attaching itself > surruptitiosly to the > emails the user intentionally sends out) - in which > case I will stand > corrected. > > Anyway, thanks for caring. > > Cheers, > -Markus > > > > From: James Shvarts <enviroj@...> > > > > We all use computers, so, for your info... > > > > > Please be aware there is another malicious email > > virus currently spreading > > > across the Internet. > > > > > > Remember it is dangerous to open an unsolicited > > attachment you receive via > > > email. Messages containing them should always be > > deleted. > > > > > > If you have already opened an attachment with > the > > text: > > > > > > Hi xxx, ! > > > I received your email and I shall send you a > reply > > ASAP. > > > Till then, take a look at the attached zipped > docs. > > > Sincerely > > > xxx,. > > > > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > > Do You Yahoo!? > > Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. All > in one place. > > Yahoo! Shopping: http://shopping.yahoo.com > > > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. All in one place. Yahoo! Shopping: http://shopping.yahoo.com