Posted by John Behle on August 19, 2003 at 18:40:02:
Well, somebody that visits or has visited here has a virus. I'm starting to get all these returned mail and other notices as well as about 30-40 viruses so far today.
First off, if you receive something from admin@papergame.com or any other PaperGame address - it isn't me, my website or my computer. What it is is somebody that picked up a virus. Most viruses nowadays scan people's computers for email addresses and send out bogus virus email using those addresses. In other words, somebody that has admin@papergame.com as an address in their database has a virus.
Norton, McAffe or other virus programs are very in-expensive and can save your bacon. My software has protected me from thousands without one failure. I can't imagine why anyone would surf the internet without up to date virus protection.
The other thing that totally amazes me is someone opening up email attachments from someone they don't know and confirming any from people you do know. Most viruses have to be opened to be triggered.
Also, since I started using a spam blocker, it has also caught most viruses. They don't even make it as far as my computer, but are deleted right off the server. I highly recommend "Mail Washer". It is a wonderful program and deletes and bounces spam like a Pitbull on crack.
So,
1. Get an antivirus program. I recommend Norton.
2. Get a firewall. Zone Alarm is free. It will also prevent you from passing along most viruses if you did get one.
3. Use a Spam Blocker like Mail Washer. It automatically blocks about 90% of the spam I get, blacklists them, bounces it back and identifies many or most viruses also.
4. There is no simple way to prevent software from scanning addresses from websites, but there is a simple solution to help protect yourself. Get a another email you use for posting at newsgroups. It can be forwared to your existing email if you want and if spam or viruses become a problem, you can drop that address and get another.
- Latest "MSBlast" worm needs a patch or firewall John Behle 19:27:12 8/19/2003 (0)