[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Chas.E *
There USED to be an obvious difference, until virus writers learned how to hijack your machine and send mails with virus attachments under YOUR name to everyone in your address book. I guess you never heard of the Melissa, ILoveYou etc viruses?
[QUOTE]
:rolleyes:
No, I only have to deal with these on a regular basis, working as an assistant to a national IT manager for a large company. Of course, you wouldn’t know that becaus eyou automatically jumped to conclusions, based solely upon my requesting a link for PERSONAL use in something that has ZERO effect on you.
Yes, there are scary little things out there that appear to come from someone you know, even ones that take a message already in their outbox and send it to you with the original attachment. Only, if you pay attention, you notice that the attachment is NOT the same as the first time it came through your inbox. So what do you do? You run it by your virus detector or you contact the sender to confirm or deny their sending it. It really is quite simple.
**
That is a fact and it is a sad one. However, I’m blessed enough to not have any close friends that are computer illiterate or “stupid” enough to have to worry about them confusing a virus with a picture of myself, or any silly thing, that I am sending them.
**
Well thank you for telling ME what to to in sending emails to MY friends and family. I’m not exactly sure how MY sending of something (truly) harmless with a message letting this one person know what it is, etc. is encouraging them to use weak security practices. In the past 7 years of my using e-mail I have never had a problem, either with people receiving things from me, or me sending them out.
Besides, the only way they could be fooled by a Melissa (or the like) virus is if I was fooled by it to get it and pass it on in the first place. Thank god I have the computer smarts to not let that happen. I have received 4 viruses via email in the past year and none of them have been passed on, because of my own cautionary tactics.
But I guess that just means I should stay paranoid like the rest of this overly-frightened society and not send anything other than text through e-mails.
:rolleyes: