Hi Folks, I just got in a virus with this heading " hackers and
viruses" from an email addressed as if it came from orchid which it
did not…
Remember, It may look like it came from an Orchid reply and it will
have info in the email that looks like a reply to a question… As
well as an attached virus… do not open the attachment.Delete it !
Please check your incoming emails with updated virus protection
software As I have received a number of viruses from Orchidians Whose
computers are not safe… Our software does catch this before
entering our computer As we are up to date. Best Wishes, Daniel Grandi
I’d like to add another word to that warning: the origin of the
virus does NOT have to be the same as the apparent originator of the
e-mail. Several viruses, including the now-popular Bugbear, use
messages in the infected computer’s inbox as a front, replicating the
e-mail and the “from” name (although not the actual e-mail address)
to entice the unwary to open the attachment. This happened a couple
weeks ago with an Orchid message I had posted. Bugbear infected a
computer that apparently still had an old Orchid post of mine in its
inbox. It replicated the Orchid message, and sent it around to some
fellow Orchidians whose addresses were apparently in the infected
recipient’s mailbox. Several people opened the message, presuming it
to be from me – launching Bugbear into their computer systems.
The virus did not originate with me: my system is at least as secure
as Dan’s , and I was protected from infection. (Scanned my hard
drive just to be suRe: I’m clean.) It also did not originate with
Orchid. I still don’t know who the first unfortunate soul was: the
same message came to me to (the virus software nabbed it on the way
in) and the “from” e-mail address was bogus.
If you don’t have virus detection software, get it. And then
subscribe to a service that allows you to update your virus
definitions WEEKLY at a MINIMUM! Most virus detection software will
even let you set up to do the updating automatically. My definitions
are updated daily. It has saved me no end of headaches.
Regular updates are essential: without it, the best virus detection
software in the world is useless against new viruses. In addition,
Bugbear and others of its ilk have a nasty little twist that turns
off your virus protection software, preventing updates after
infection from identifying it – and making you vulnerable to any
other virus that comes your way, as well. For more on virus
definitions updating, check out the Symantec web site at
www.symantec.com or the web site of your favorite virus detection
software maker.
Suzanne
Suzanne Wade
writer/editor
Suzanne@rswade.net
http://www.rswade.net
Phone: (508) 339-7366
Fax: (928) 563-8255