RE: filmscanners: Filmscanners: OT: E-mail virus

["Mark Otway" <mark@otway.com>]

>> Well, you're playing an online form of Russian Roulette 
>> then. Some of the recent rash of viruses attach themselves 
>> to web pages. Click on the right link, and you're hit! And, 
>> you probably won't know about it until for some time. Unless 
>> of course, the virus trashes your system.

If you have a decent firewall set up, and the right security settings on
your browser, it won't happen. And the 'auto-executing' viruses attached
to HTML emails aren't an issue, as I've patched Outlook and have
disabled the MS Script Host (which is the root of most of these
problems). I also now run the Outlook add-in which automatically
converts *all* HTML mails to plain text before I read them.

Lastly, I have a regular and incremental backup system in place, which
means that if the very worst happened (unlikely as it is) I can
completely rebuild my laptop in about an hour. :-)

The fact of the matter is that with an up-to-date virus scanner running
on ingoing and outgoing mail, and the script host disabled, there is
nothing that any current AV software can do to provide any more
protection than I already have. Judicious checking of attachment sources
before opening them, and a little care whilst surfing means there is a
negligible risk. 

Since 99% of all viruses only propogate as a direct result of dumb users
opening unsolicited viruses, I would categorise myself in the 'low-risk'
zone. ;-)

Mark