Re: [nukkad] Virus

[Harshal Chhaya <>]

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tip of the day:  "It is well to remember that the entire universe, with 
one trifling exception, is composed of others." -- John Andrew Holmes
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shyam Garg wrote:
> Saw your virus problem. Below is given a solution for computers shooting
> e-mails to all in the address book without the knowledge of the sender. I am
> not sure its efficacy, but worth trying. Good luck.

Shyam,

The trick is indeed clever and will stump certain viruses but
it won't work for every virus/worm that propogates via email. I 
know you said that its efficacy is unknown but this solution 
is likely to create a false sense of safety in people who add "!000" 
to their address book.

The problem is lots of viruses pick e-mail addresses randomly instead 
of in alphabetical order, and most don't quit if they fail on the first 
try. Still, there's no harm in it and you may get a clue that your 
address book has been abused.

It would also fail to work with parasitic worms, which piggyback 
themselves onto valid e-mail messages that you send out.

And some viruses send themselves as replies to recent messages 
bypassing the address book (which is what happened to Dr. Gupta).

This method would also not work with worms that have their own built 
in e-mail mechanisms, as they don't use a your computer's e-mail 
program to send themselves. They have their own outbound e-mail 
program built into the virus programming. Both SirCam and Nimda use this 
infection method.

This fake address could also stop you from sending email to everyone
in your address book but this may not be a big deal.

The best way to avoid being infected and subsequently spreading email
based viruses:
* Don't open attachments from people you don't know

* Don't open attachments that you are not expecting. Even if the 
subject and the sender looks familiar, the email may contain an 
infected attachment. It is better to miss out on an attachment than
to infect your PC.

* Disable the 'preview' pane in Outlook Express. Go to View -> Layout
and Uncheck 'Show Preview Pane'.  The slight increase in ease-of-use 
that the preview pane provides is not worth the large amounts of pain 
and agony it inflicts.          

* Update the virus signature database of your anti-virus program.

* Use the "!000" trick but be aware that it won't work every time.

* If you can use an email program other than Outlook Express, do it.
Eudora (http://www.eudora.com/) and Pegasus (http://www.pmail.com) are
both very good alternatives. If you can't switch or don't want to,
follow the other steps and you should be fine.

Regards,
Harshal

-- 
 http://www.mumbai-central.com : Where Mumbaikars meet

 Send email to get-bse@mumbai-central.com for the latest BSE listings
 and to get-nse@mumbai-central.com to get the latest NSE listings


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To Subscribe [Unsubscribe] send a blank message to 
        nukkad-list-request@mumbai-central.com 
with the word 'subscribe' ['unsubscribe'] (without quotes) in the Subject 
of your message.
The list is archived at  http://www.mumbai-central.com/nukkad/archive.html