-
-
- Usually when we get news of most viruses released, they attack the Outlook Express address book. I have Outlook Express (-I think; whatever comes with Office2K) but I don’t store any addresses in the address book, but I do have some mail left undeleted. If I had been infected with the latest Anna Kourikokomo virus, would it have grabbed these addresses also, or would it have gotten none, since I haven’t any actually “stored” in the address book? Have any of the more recent viruses been able to “grab” addresses of mail left undeleted in Outlook Express? - MC
-
Typically MC, most Outlook versions of worms or viruses will only affect those that keep people in the address book.
Luckily the AnaKournavoka (sp) worm was a pretty mild attack as it didn’t cause actual damage to your files.
The thing is is to ensure you are looking at a real file before even allowing it to be a problem. I saw the .VBS extension and knew immediately it was not something I wanted in my mail box and deleted it immediately.
I have been on the internet for six years this month and have yet to have a virus infect my system. You can say I am either technically savy or lucky, take your pick but if you aren’t expecting an attachment from someone, and especially if it ends in .vbs or in .exe and even .zip, refuse it. Don’t look at it, it’s not worth the effort.
Those are a few of the things I keep in mind when opening email from people. If I am in question about it I ask the sender.
It can also be reassuring to try a web search (eg. google) for the attachment name. If the first twenty hits all have “Virus” in the title, then maybe you don’t want it.
Ditto for virus warnings; search for the virus name, and look to see if all hits have “Hoax” in the title…
dylan,
All one needs to do is hit a few anti virus software sites to get the scoop on hoaxes, both McAfee (not a software product I would recommend personally) and Norton Anti Virus have excellent information on virus and hoaxes. Another one would be DataFellows, more of a corporate network security site but good for information if you want it.
http://www.datafellows.com/virus-info/
http://www.mcafee.com/anti-virus/default.asp
Ha! You really think anyone I talk to can remember a URL?! 
I work in IT support, so I know the sites to find what I want, but for the average user, I find a google search will throw up those pages first anyway, so I usually just recommend that…working on the theory that everyone knows some search engine…I could be wrong…
Outlook and Outlook Express are two totally different programs. The viruses like LoveLetter, Melissa, and VBSWG all attack the Outlook address book.
When you look at the e-mail viruses which are the most common today:
Hybris -Doesn’t matter which e-mail app you use. Attacks any e-mail address sent through the Internet connection.
MTX and Happy99 -Doesn’t matter which e-mail app you use. Sends a second e-mail with all outgoing mail.
Kak -Adds itself as a script to outgoing Outlook Express mail.
Navidad -Doesn’t matter which e-mail app you use as long as it supports MAPI. Replies to new e-mail messages.
the address book is not one of their targets.