Latest virus threat should be educational
Published 12:00 am Friday, May 5, 2000
If you own a computer, you just can’t be safe enough when you connect to the Internet.
Friday, May 05, 2000
If you own a computer, you just can’t be safe enough when you connect to the Internet.
That sure proved itself Thursday when area businesses and individuals opened up their e-mail boxes in the morning and found unsuspected virus files sitting there just waiting to cause harm.
Computer systems worldwide were brought to crawl or complete halt when the so-called lovebug virus started impacting networks everywhere.
The subject header of the e-mail messages said "ILOVEYOU" and contained an attached file that if opened not only sent out the virus to every person on your e-mail contact list, but also destroyed photo files and caused other havoc. The virus reportedly spread so rapidly at some large-scale Internet users that systems had to be shut down not only for repairs but to prevent the nasty bug from spreading further.
It all points to this in the end: If you receive via e-mail a file that you aren’t expecting and you’re not sure what it is, just don’t open it. That’s even more important when you receive e-mail files from people you don’t know. However, Thursday’s compubug typically came from people you would know because you’d be on their mailing lists on their computers.
Any file you receive via e-mail should be considered suspect. Pranksters and cybercrooks have the ability to mask their true identity in e-mail messages, so the file you receive may not be from who it actually seems to be.
Use virus-protection programs on your computer, be careful about swapping disks with other users and never open a file you’re not sure about before running virus-checking software. If you take those simple steps and back up your programs and data regularly, you’ll be prepared for any potential problems that sneak past your visible firewalls.