Why you need Up-To-Date Virus Protection

by Suzanne Fyhrie

Viruses are sent daily around the world, and the most common and easiest form of infection is through our email.

I cannot stress how important it is in not only keeping a current back up of your work, but up-to-the-minute virus protection.

I personally use Norton Antivirus 2004. I set it to scan for updates at least 3-4 times a day, and I run a computer virus scan 2x a week. Now many of you may think this excessive. However, if you had a major crash simply because you “forgot” to run your virus update, then you may be as cautions as well.

Today, I received a notice that a virus had been detected in an incoming email. The infected mail was deleted. Norton then sends out a notification email to the sender of the virus warning them that they are infected. Below is the copy of the notification. Note: I have highlighted the original infected email and its subject line.

= = = = = = = = =

This message was created automatically by mail delivery software.

A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its
recipients. This is a permanent error. The following address(es) failed:

info@XXXXXXXXX.com
This message has been rejected because it has
a potentially executable attachment "Document.pif"
This form of attachment has been used by
recent viruses or other malware.
If you meant to send this file then please
package it up as a zip file and resend it.

------ This is a copy of the message, including all the headers. ------

Return-path: <info@onewayadv.com>
Received: from [4.11.224.82] (helo=FREE4EXCHANGE)
by XXXXXXXXXXX.com with smtp (Exim 4.24)
id 1AyVpo-0005Qo-9L
for info@XXXXXXXXXX.com; Wed, 03 Mar 2004 04:50:48 -0800
Date: Wed, 03 Mar 2004 04:50:49 -0800
To: info@XXXXXXXX.com
Subject: Notify about using the e-mail account.
From: administration@XXXXXXXX.com
Message-ID: <msxhbvkadrvpubweksw@XXXXXXXX.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/mixed;
boundary="--------etwunralpicrsictxqye"

----------etwunralpicrsictxqye
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Dear user of XXXXXXXXX.com,

Our antivirus software has detected a large ammount of viruses outgoing
from your email account, you may use our free anti-virus tool to clean up
your computer software.

For more information see the attached file.

Cheers,
The XXXXXXXX.com team http://www.XXXXXXXX.com

----------etwunralpicrsictxqye
Content-Type: plain/text;
name="Norton AntiVirus Deleted1.txt"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="Norton AntiVirus Deleted1.txt"

Tm9ydG9uIEFudGlWaXJ1cyByZW1vdmVkIHRoZSBhdHRhY2htZ
W50OiBEb2N1bWVudC5waWYuDQpUaGUgYXR0YWNobWVudCB3YXMga
W5mZWN0ZWQgd2l0aCB0aGUgVzMyLkJlYWdsZS5KQG1t
IHZpcnVzLg==
----------etwunralpicrsictxqye—

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The attachment, the free-anti-virus tool, WAS the virus, or at least the carrier.

A word to the wise: If you are running a business, never, and I mean NEVER attach any documents to your letters on a first meeting. I personally delete all email when I don’t recognize the sender. I also automatically delete emails from accounts I don’t use.

If you receive any email containing an attachment – don’t open them unless you know who they are from. If your virus scan is up to date – you may be protected. Viruses first have to infect, before they can be detected and subsequently eliminated. So there’s still a risk when opening foreign mail.

I consider my computer as a potential “first case scenario”. So I protect it with a vengeance. After all, my business and my life are on that box of chips.

If your antivirus program has not been updated recently – do it now! You may have to upgrade your membership – which is a negligible cost compared to losing your hard drive.

I strongly suggest you protect your investment with the most current version of Norton. Not only are you putting your own computer at risk, but the computers of friends and loved ones. Remember – computer viruses spread through email- and they can spread automatically – grabbing potential victims from your address books. So, protect yourself.

Norton Antivirus 2004

Norton SystemWorks 2003

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About the Author
Suzanne Fyhrie owns and operates OneWay Advertising and Design. She has 20 years graphic design and advertising experience - 8 years of Internet marketing and web design. OneWay Advertising is a Christian agency providing marketing, advertising and graphic design for both on and off the Internet. She says her greatest asset are the quality sub-contractors and freelancers she hires.

For OneWay's Free marketing tips newsletter, please visit http://www.onewayadv.com/newsletter.htm

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