Category: Geeks r Us
heard from msn groups yesterday.
if you get an email with a power point presentation called it's a wonderfull life, do not open it.
it is a new virus that is going around web based email servers such as msn and yahoo.
if you open it, you will loose everything on your computer
Right, and as i was mentioning in the QN's, yahoo has become less safe than it used to be, especially yahoo messenger, which wasn't too accessible for us anyway.
And, since you are bringing this up, Dan, there is another mail circulating about msn closing down and which is supposedly being sent by the two msn directors, it is total bullshit, of course.
john, i have got that one before, about msn closing down
as for the truth, i really don't know
Honestly, I'm amazed at some of the downfalls I've heard in regards to things like these. You'd think it wouldn't need to be stated not to open attachments from everyone and their mothers', but maybe it does. if you really think something's legitimate, check email headers. Best thing: Leave *all* attachments from unknown sources alone, no matter the sending address. This also goes for people in your address book if the accompanying message looks strange.
Interspersed among the junk mail and spam that fills our Internet e-mail boxes are
dire warnings about devastating new viruses, Trojans that eat the heart out of your
system, and malicious software that can steal the computer right off your desk. Added
to that are messages about free money, children in trouble, and other items designed
to grab you and get you to forward the message to everyone you know. Most all of
these messages are hoaxes or chain letters. While hoaxes do not automatically infect
systems like a virus or Trojan, they are still time consuming and costly to remove
from all the systems where they exist. At CIAC, we find that we spend much more time
de-bunking hoaxes than handling real virus and Trojan incidents. These pages describe
some of the warnings, offers, and pleas for help that are filling our mailboxes,
clogging our mailservers, and that generally do not have any basis in fact.
In addition to describing hoaxes and chain letters found on the Internet, we will
discuss how to
recognize hoaxes
,
what to do about them
, and some of the
history of hoaxes
on the Internet.
Users are requested to please not spread chain letters and hoaxes by sending copies
to everyone you know. Sending a copy of a cute message to one or two friends is not
a problem but sending an unconfirmed warning or plea to everyone you know with the
request that they also send it to everyone they know simply adds to the clutter already
filling our mailboxes. If you receive any of this kind of mail, please don't pass
it to everyone you know, either delete it or pass it to your computer security manager
to validate. Validated warnings from the incident response teams and antivirus vendors
have valid return addresses and are usually PGP signed with the organization's key.
Alternately, you can and should get the warnings directly from the web pages of the
organizations that put them out to insure that the information you have is valid
and up-to-date.
Also...Snopes is your friend!
oh how many of these do we get, and most of them are hoaxes. If you get another email like this, just google whatever the warning says, and it will most likely direct you to the relevant site telling you whether it's true or not.
Personally I don't forward anything. I don't believe that by forwarding an email to 7 people in 7 minutes will bring me 7 years of good luck, starting in 7 minutes time, I don't believe that forwarding virus warnings will prvent people getting viruses, I don't believe that forwarding religious clap trap will save me from hell, and I don't believe that microsoft will pay me for sending some crap to 50 of my closest friens.
The best way to deal with all that kind of crap is to delete it, even if its come from a friend.
It surprises me how many people I thought had a brain forward unbelievable crap to me. The human resources person where I work believed that stupid one about getting money from Microsoft and forwarded that one to me and everyone else she knows. My opinion of her intelligence went down several notches after that.
There just must be a bunch of people on this silly planet who believe forwarding e-mail is magic. Jumpin' jellyfish, people are stupid! My rule of thumb is this. If I receive any e-mail that tells me that it must be sent to other folks, even if what's in the e-mail is 98 percent true, out it goes. Any e-mail that makes itself seem as some kind of insider info and that it's my job to propogate it just ain't worth the bother.
I love how people send me one about a supposid gift certificate to apple bees, cracker barrell, etc. I don't buy that stuff.
Troy
wanna help catch the al qaeda? Forward this email to 3000 people, and then press alt+8! lol
Much as I hate to admit it, I have a small amount of admiration for the spammers. Believe me, I get as annoyed as anyone about it, but they are always just one step ahead of everybody. Wish we could rechannel all that mental energy. The three letters I've come to almost hate are FWD. My family has certainly been infected with the gullibility virus, but I take comfort that its on my wife's side of the family, and not mine.
Lou