Re: 2 Comps fail within days, same problem, help


"Scott" <blackhole@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:dvolge$euh$1$8302bc10@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Alex Heney wrote:

No, only people who are not easily conned. Viruses get on machines
because people put them there by executing them when they arrive as
attachments to emails. Or they choose to allow their browser to execute
active x components and other such garbage. No doubt these same people
rush to enter their password and account details every time they get an
email from 'Barclays' telling them about a new 'security update'.


Rubbish.

There *are* viruses out there "in the wild" that can get onto your
machine without you doing *anything* obviously stupid.


That's bollocks, a properly configured machine is uninfectable other than
by deliberate action by the user. The propaganda put out by anti-virus
software companies is 90% hype. The media loves virus stories, it sells
newspapers; the public loves reading them, the scarier the better, its a
vicious circle. Even the language you're using, ("in the wild"), shows
you've been sucked in by the scare stories. It is just such utter bollocks
and it's time someone punctured this myth.

Sadly not true. There are plenty of viruses (strictly worms) that can
propagate from PC to PC without any user intervention whatsoever. Further,
the normal configuration of a PC leaves the doors open for these worms to
hop from machine to machine. As fast as the anti virus and firewall vendors
stop up the holes, the virus writers are busy finding new ways round them.

We had an interesting morning here a few years ago watching the Nebiwo (?)
worm propagating around the office.

It is the people who bury their head in the sand, and declare it to be hype
that sooner or later get stung. When was the last time you scanned your PC
for malware?


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: a virus question
    ... harvesters lurking around and will send you e-mails with viruses / worms ... The e-mails you received did not come from Microsoft. ... > Do I have a problem that I might be sending to my customers VIA emails? ...
    (microsoft.public.access.adp.sqlserver)
  • Re: Linux virus question
    ... > which infect system files. ... Worms and viruses are two entirely different concepts. ... agree that it does not involve executing the file directly. ...
    (alt.os.linux)
  • RE: Email Type Viruses like Netsky
    ... Having said all that - your client machines should all be running antivirus software. ... > sends the bogus emails on to the recipients. ... > notifying them that they are sending them viruses. ... so the sender may or may not be infected. ...
    (microsoft.public.exchange.admin)
  • Re: Phantom Emailer?
    ... Like most viruses, this one is spoofing the sender - so the ... > emails are not being forwarded to another account. ... > user but at differing times. ...
    (microsoft.public.outlook)
  • Re: Infected e-mail
    ... Yea I hope those who makes malicious mails and viruses will have a miserable ... > from various bogus senders that contained viruses. ... Of those emails, I think about ... > half were posing as Microsoft, and most of the rest were ...
    (microsoft.public.security.virus)