better to be safe than sorry... (virus alert)

Just received an email from my brother in law, that looks like all the other bogus emails with claims of a new virus

however snopes (famous for uncovering scams and bogus emails etc) claims this is a real virus

http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/postcard.asp

forgive me that this is not SL related, but I felt that it best to share the info and hopefully save some unsuspecting person of opening such an email

(not a new virus (I discovered after reading through snopes) but seems it might be making it's rounds again)

ounce of prevention pound of cure comes to mind.

I just sort of automatically assume those things were bogus anyway.

Simple rule of thumb... Unless that hyperlink actually leads to exactly what you're looking for... Don't click it. (=_=)

Getting a random Email, containing a random link, claiming to be from a random family member / friend.... Heh.... That's best dumped in your trash. (=_=)

I've been on computers for years, virus free, without ANY virus scan software necessary. That one rule is the first line of defense and practically the kill-all of computer infections. (^_^)y

Weird AL to the rescue!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-GaRKDsz-Y

WARNING! Not safe for the humor impaired!

Interesting quote. If you haven't any virus detection software, how would U know if it gets infected?

Many if not most virus's infect a computer without lending a clue to the operator. A friend of ours kept spamming our email for months until we asked them to stop. Yes, she had a virus and had no idea what she was sending to the ppl on her list.

Me? I run 3 internet active PC's and stop an infection perhaps once every few months. We have 3 kids and U know how they can be - we have an active infection to cure mabye once or twice a year. For a couple instances it was easier to just factory restore than go through the disinfection steps.

You probably already know that email isn't the only way to get infected. Some websites themselves contain malicious script and even visiting them causes problems.

Even a PC which is not internet active is vulnerable through removable media. I remember quite a few years even Microsoft released a program setup disk which contained a virus.


-Zerock

I know it is best to just delete unknown emails, however some folks unsuspectingly open them, or they just tend to click too quick

I only posted this as a reminder, nothing more, not insinuating anything of anyone etc

Thank you Rha...........it's always good to remind us of stuff we usually just shrug off. Like, "I've never had a virus...........I practice safe surfing. It does not pretain to me". Anyone who knowingly accesses the internet without an anti virus program running is asking for an infection and sooner or later (probably sooner) they will get what they ask for. There certainly are practices you can adhere to that will minimize your chances of getting an infection, like deleting unknown emails and avoiding questionable websites.........but that is not enough anymore. What is an "unknown email" now days? That malicious email could very well be from one of your trusted friends who has a virus and because that friend does not have any anti virus software and they don't even know it.......and they probably would doubt you if you mentioned the possibility. You can search using Google (or any other search engine) and visit a site that appears to be "just what you were searching for".......and pick up a virus. I run a good anti virus and have innocently visited a website that was trying to infect my computer....my anti virus caught it. And I do practice safe browsing and delete all email I don 't know the source. I also have had a "friend" who sent me a virus......because she had not updated her anti virus in months.

It can happen. It can happen even with all the anti virus and safe surfing practices in the world. But to ignore a gentle reminder just because you think you are safe is foolish.

So, thanks again Rha.

heh! I had someone on the forums tell me I was "spreading paranoia" when I mentioned that.

Usenet, Russian Warez sites and Torrents???

My argument being that it's not the Mac itself, but the web-enabled software installed on it that leaves your drawers down.

Even though I run Linux as my firewall, I keep a watchful eye on the security mailing list. And I don't surf the internet from it.

haxx0r bbs

OMG!!!!!!! bbs and a 14.4 modem! WOOT! Couldn't believe that anything would ever be faster or better!

huh? "most"??? known Mac viruses = 40, known Linux viruses=9
(known windows viruses = #error_buffer_overflow)

LMAO - so true, but not always practical for a variety of reasons.

I've never put much faith in the "can't possibly happen to me" theory of security management.

There are, however, no known viruses for the current Mac OS that actually exist in the wild and are not simply proof-of-concept.

My point is that as Macs gain popularity and more and more people start using Macs (or they switch to Macs from PC's) they will become more of a target for the idiots who think it's fun to infect someone elses computer with malware. When roughly 80% of the computers in the world run Windows who do you think is going to be the biggest target? You want a network of zombie computers to spread your mayhem you will not go after 20%, you will go after 80%. And since Macs are gaining popularity there will be more attacks directed at those machines

Mac users protection has been simply because there is not enough around to bother with. The weaknesses will be found and exploited.........I just hope it does not catch you with your drawers down around your ankles. I thnk the Linux users are safe for a while yet..........Linux is just not popular enough and (in my opinion) will not be for quite some time, if ever.

I, personally, like to subscribe to the concept of security through obsolescence. I'll be developing an SL client that runs on DOS 6.22.

That's the fun part... I didn't claim I never had it... I claimed it wasn't necessary. (^_^)

Virus scanning software is a second line of defense, not the first. And it is ONLY put to use after your computer is infected. There is no way to actually *block* a virus infection. That would require predicting the future and the habits of the computer user. Files can be inspected and filtered for viruses, but the presence of the virus in the file is an infection in and of itself. (^_^)

On my end... For the times I had scanning software installed... It was nothing more than a resource hog that was no more capable of protecting me as I was myself. And that first line of defense really simply has been... "Use your computer on purpose, not by accident." =^-^=

Now, your mileage may vary, but as for me the closest thing I got to having a virus was a stuck fan in my laptop... Yes... It was a hardware failure, but it behaved almost like Sasser. It was causing blackouts while running my browser... That triggered me to run a scan, only for it to black out again. Darn "M" series processors drop their clock speed so they don't need a fan while idle... It spun me for a loop for a whole day! (>_<

(^_^)y

For awhile, I was experiencing major crashing in the SL client; far beyond the norm. Eventually, I found that my version of anti-virus software was the major culpurate. Once I made SL exempt from the AV, the level of crashing dropped dramatically.

Anti-virus software can be dangerous to the layman. People assume that because they have AV that they're protected and go happily surfing the web.

Did anyone actually read the whole Snopes article? Although there is a virus called postcard, the email that is going around warning about it is very misleading and a hoax.

Basically the same here. But, this only works if you're the only one using your computer, and have experience with seperating the good stuff from the bad.
AV programs can be such a resource drain, that it's definitely an improvement if you can skip them.

To those claiming that we're probably infected anyway without knowing: there are quite a few LEGIT online virus scanners, you know? I let my computer run overnight once in a while to do one of those, and the only thing it returns is a handful of cookies. Maybe once a year there's some additional malware, but rarely anything really bad, just the simple stuff like google toolbars and the like.

Keeping an eye on my network stats is another method of checking how things run.

I don't advice anyone to NOT run an AV though, it's something people have to work out for themselves, whether it's safe or not. For about 99% of the people owning a computer, it's definitely not. But I'm more than glad that I can do without.