NOTES ON PC VIRUS PROTECTION
PC viruses are a damn nuisance. Virus protection software is highly
recommended, but it still has an archilles heal if a new virus appears (with
code not recognised by an existing virus definition). For those using
Internet Explorer a couple of tips to maximise protection and also stop it
being passed to others are as follows:
Do not use the "preview pane"
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The likes of the Badtrans virus exploits the weakness that merely having a
preview of a received email is sufficient for the virus to enter the PC. If
all email reading is under the control of the recipient, then the recipient
is free to scrutine received items and delete any they are not happy with.
Under the VIEW menu, select the LAYOUT option, and that will bring up a
window that includes the "preview pane" in the lower half of the window.
He first item in the preview pane is a box for "show preview pane" and it is
"off" when the X is not showing. Click the box so the X is not there, then
"apply", and when you go back to the main page, there will be no preview
pane. This means that all email viewing is under manual selection.
Address book with !000
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Apparently the virus goes to the address book to find victim recipients, to
try and spread the virus to others by phoney email messages. If the first
entry in the address list is incomplete, then the PC user is given a message
asking for more address information, and that is a warning to the user that
something more is going on than was asked for, the request for information
can be declined, and instead virus checking becomes the next action point!
The way of having a "duff first address" is to use the address !000. To do
that, click on CONTACTS (lower left hand side of the main screen), then
click on NEW CONTACTS to bring up the window for entering address details.
Use only the surname box, and type in !000 (use zero, not the letter O) and
when that is applied, the result can be checked for !000 being at the top of
the address list.
Bob Vernall
(has been bitten by the Badtrans virus)
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