[FFML] [OFF-TOPIC] On network safety - a little reminder

[dennisthetiger at chez-vrolet.net]

Heya, your friendly neighborhood list op here.  Before I go on, I want to make something perfectly clear: I am making no accusations against anyone on list, I'm merely making notes and reminders.

Today, I got the bounce from the listbot that a message from postmaster here at Chez Vrolet was deflected, as the postmaster address is not subscribed.  Enclosed was a zip file that contained a file named message.exe.  Naturally, being the clever bastard I am, I didn't open it.

So that said, I'd like to remind people of a few things.

First, if it's a message from somebody and it has an attachment, make sure you know what's in the attachment.  If it's from postmaster, root, admin, or anybody, or tells you of a security patch, don't open it - it is malware.  

Second, check your computers for viruses if you're running Windows.  Run a virus scanner and keep it running.  There's some nasty stuff out there, and you don't want to have it.  If you need a free virus scanner, go to http://free.grisoft.net and download AVG.  It's good enough, and probably better than some of the commercial offerings. =)

(No, I'm not dogging on Windows.  If Linux were the predominant OS, then they would make viruses for Linux.)

Finally, having said I'm not going to accuse anyone of anything, I do note that I do occasionally get deflections for the list.  My understanding could be wrong, but as I understand it some of the malware out there will intercept address books and farm email addresses fromm there to propagate.  I can't emphasize this enough, as such - get your system scanned.  If you are not running protection, do it.  To borrow a line from Alien Vs. Predator, it's like a condom - you're better off having it and not needing it than needing it and not having it.

We now return to our regularly scheduled fanfic writing.

-Dennis