# Is somebody deliberately targeting me with viruses? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 17, 2002, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-somebody-deliberately-targeting-me-with-viruses/137214 "2002-11-17T22:42:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2002, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-somebody-deliberately-targeting-me-with-viruses/137214/1 "2002-11-17T22:42:49Z")
lately, my Hotmail account has been receiving one or two messages per day with viruses attached (doesn’t affect me because A) I use Mailwasher B) I only view them on the web (because I use Oultook, not Express and it can’t download from Hotmail). But these messages almost invariably come from yahoo accounts - unless the senders are paying for POP accounts (or just spoofing the headers, I suppose), then somebody would be sending these from the Yahoo web mail interface, so it couldn’t be a worm or anything. What is the likelihood that someone is directly targeting me? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-somebody-deliberately-targeting-me-with-viruses/137214/2 "2002-11-18T14:15:57Z")
Viruses such as Klez are self-propogating. Once a person’s computer is infected, it sends itself out to all of that person’s contact. (With the real sender slightly disguised. You have to read the full header to find out who is really infected.) If there is a group of people that email each other and have you on their list, then you’ll get a virus email from each of them. If you know who to _really_ read _full_ email headers, then you can figure out where they are really coming from and inform the senders they are infected. The best defense against email viruses is to NOT use MS Outlook. ---
**Author:** ![Rob\_V](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Rob\_V](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rob_V)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-somebody-deliberately-targeting-me-with-viruses/137214/3 "2002-11-18T17:01:33Z")
So, FTG, or anyone else, what is a good, stable, compatable alternative to MS Outlook? An I’m not talkin’ about any kind of web-based email, like using my ISP’s email portal. It does seem like most viruses target Outlook, so using another email program makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-somebody-deliberately-targeting-me-with-viruses/137214/4 "2002-11-18T17:45:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rob V \* > \*\*So, FTG, or anyone else, what is a good, stable, compatable alternative to MS Outlook? \*\* [Pegasus.](http://www.pmail.com/) It’s good. It’s free. It’s not Outlook. ---
**Author:** ![Zelmph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/46a35a/32.png) [@Zelmph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zelmph)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-somebody-deliberately-targeting-me-with-viruses/137214/5 "2002-11-18T20:48:13Z")
\Eudora\ is also worth checking out. Its UI needs a serious overhaul, and the chili pepper thing is just silly, but it’s very stable and it’s got mad filtering and search skillz. ---
**Author:** ![Zelmph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/46a35a/32.png) [@Zelmph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zelmph)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-somebody-deliberately-targeting-me-with-viruses/137214/6 "2002-11-18T20:50:11Z")
Uh, what I really meant was: [Eudora](http://www.eudora.com) is also worth checking out. Its UI needs a serious overhaul, and the chili pepper thing is just silly, but it’s very stable and it’s got mad filtering and search skillz. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-somebody-deliberately-targeting-me-with-viruses/137214/7 "2002-11-18T20:54:55Z")
I actually use a lot of Unix tools under [Cygwin](http://www.cygwin.com/). I also run my on SMTP server so that means I get to use good old Berkeley SendMail CLI. (Elm is for wimps.) Avoids a tremendous number of headaches that way. (E.g., uniform access on my Linux boxes too.) All free of course.