Genealogy Chat

Hi Judy, I am running Windows XP, and over the last couple of days I have been getting a lot of infected mail with the Netsky d attachment, bYonder has been removing these, and i am always updating my firewall, but last night i got a failed delivery on a email that says it comes from me, but i know the computer was disconnected at the time, do you think something has slipped through. Many thanks, April.

Judy is 5 hours behind us so I have taken the liberty of jumping in. This virus can "spoof" adresses and that may explain the bounced e-mail. If you want to be sure you can either go to the home site of your VP prog or go to the following site and follow the instructions: http://www.sophos.*com/support/disinfection/netskyb.html (take out the*) Bob

Thanks very much Bob, your advice is much appreciated. April.

Hi April and Bob: Bob is right (as usual!) More than likely the e-mail notice you received that mail could not be sent, was due to someone else having a virus.....not you. Not much you can do about viruses being sent to you via e-mail other than to make sure you never open anything from someone you don't know, keep your virus definitions up to date, and even mail where you know the sender and their is a download attached, make it a habit, after you download a file, BEFORE you click that downloaded file open, find the downloaded file, RIGHT click on it and from the box that appears, choose SCAN WITH NORTON - or whatever your virus program is. Viruses that come your way via an e-mail with a file attached, when downloaded, does not infect your computer.....it's when you click the file open that the virus is unleashed into your system. Better not to open mail that you don't know who the sender is as some of the newer virures going around don't come via an attachment to an e-mail.....all you have to do is open the e-mail to read it to unleash some of these sneakier buggers. Judy

Just to say thanks Judy, you have put my mind at rest. Oh and you too Bob. April.

Thanks for the compliment Judy but I am only an amateur. Just a little addenum though... You should even scan attachments that come from trusted sources. The virus can copy "spoof" your friend's address and send you an e-mail with a virus prog attached. Bob

I, like April, am with blueyonder. they now scan all inbound email to their customers for viruses. They seem very confident of their system, but of course recommend not to rely on it alone. Still it's a nice additional service. Bob