That Save Attachment when you click on the Paperclip has a meaning other than
just sitting there in your way. Oh those file attachments. How they seem to get everyone into trouble when they are opened. The next thing you know you've got e-mail being sent out that you didn't know you did to everyone in your Inbox or from your Address Book (pity those with a large number of names).
You get something and it's from someone you know so it must be okay. Right? BZZZZZZZ. Wrong Answer.
That Save Attachment when you click on the Paperclip has a meaning other than
just sitting there in your way.
Put it to use.......
When you get a file attachment, don't open it. Save it first. So far, you can't get into trouble that way. After saving it, right click on it and select to scan it with your anti-virus software. Most companies I believe put it in the Context menu (right click menu) for easy access. Scan that puppy first before attempting to open it, even if it did come your niece.
Two things you can do within Windows to help you see what attachments you are getting are:
1) From within Windows Explorer, click on Tools (or View) menu and select Folder Options. Now, select to "Show All Files" and uncheck the "Hide file extensions for known file types".
By showing all the files and extensions, when you get a file attachment that looks like:
open_me_open_me.txt.vbs
you will see the .vbs on the end of the filename. This is one type of script that can, potentially send mail, rewrite files, and other non-goodies. If you learn to recognize these types, you'll be a bit more prepared and won't open it until it has been scanned.
2) If you don't do any active scripting for the system, uninstall Windows Scripting Host (WSH). Control Panel | Add\Remove Programs | Windows Setup is where it is located.
This type of scripting can deal with reading and writing to the system and these script kiddies have taken a useful tool and made it a semi-nightmare. Yes, WSH has many good uses but the file attachments use has really messed up things.
Outlook Express won't run one of these types of script without giving you an ActiveX warning. If you select to not run it, nothing will happen but error and then you can look and see what someone tried to do.
Some of the file extensions you need to be aware of to not allow to run are:
.exe
.pif
.com
.bat
.vbs
.js
.wsh
.scr
and some others. Its just better to save first, scan second to see what that file attachment actually contains.
Ant-Virus Software
Ok, you have some software installed that will detect all those viruses, right? Right??????
When was the last time you updated the virus signatures? You do know that this is a list of all the current viruses, worms and trojans that can be caught before doing harm to your computer. Most of the companies update at the very least on a weekly basis, some on a daily basis. When something new arises from the depth of the script kiddies, it has to be in the list to be able to repair any infected file. If not, it skips over it and does nothing, leaving your files infected.
Its not the software's fault. It's yours. You have to keep up to date on these things. Computer are not intelligent beings. They have needs too. Be it scanning for viruses or defragging the hard drive, you have to maintain your computer to keep it running smoothly.