TIP: Email Viruses

Experience Level: Beginner/Intermediate

There have been proliferations of email viruses in circulation recently, many of which have proved quite a nuisance to the home user and some of which have even made it into the national news. Many of these viruses are targeted at Microsoft’s Outlook email programs, although most email software packages can be affected.

Here are some general tips and "rules-of-thumb" though, that should help to prevent your computer becoming infected:

"Never download email attachments from people you don't know" - Most email viruses are spread by delivering an email "attachment" and it is the running of this that launches the email, infecting your computer. One thing to bear in mind with this rule is that often a user won’t know that they have become infected, and many email viruses now use the Microsoft Outlook program to identify all the people in your "Contacts" list and automatically forward the email (with the virus) onto those people. As a consequence, you may receive an unexpected email from someone you do know, but be very sure of any attachments before you decide to launch or save them. Microsoft Outlook’s "Preview Pane" feature can be used to automatically launch attachments, so we would normally not recommend using this feature unless comprehensive anti-virus protection is in place.


"Never download files with the extensions .pif, .vbs or .scr" - Often files with these extensions can hide viruses within them, and these tend to be the most common sources of viruses.


"Ensure adequate anti-virus software is installed on your PC" - Two of the most highly regarded anti-virus software packages are BitDefender AntiVirus 10 ~ & Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6.0.0.303 ~ . Whatever anti-virus software you install, it is important to ensure that they offer an "on-line update" service so that the software is kept regularly up-to-date, and that the software is fully compatible with your computer’s Operating System. Virus creators are constantly producing different viruses, and it is vital that your anti-virus software can keep up!

Also, A free AntiVirus Program for those who do not already own a commercial one such as Trend Micro's PC-Cillin, McAfee or Norton AntiVirus. Avast Home Edition includes full virus protection in an easy to use interface with free automatic updating. If you are currently using a commercial AntiVirus program do not install this but confirm that yours is updated. (e-mail registration is required)