Re: Outlook and irrational virus fears

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From: Gordon (me6_at_privacy.net)
Date: 05/17/04 

Date: Mon, 17 May 2004 15:24:45 +0100

"Richard" <lion122@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:ueA7WhBPEHA.2580@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
>Hello,

>Can someone help me with some information?
>I have been using Outlook 2000 successfully for two years now.
>Recently, It has come to the attention of our IT staff that I have been
using this product. The head of our IT staff has unhesitatingly and
uncategorically forbid me >from using this product as I will probably cause
the demise of the building's network due to virus infestation.
>His opinion is based on the fact that he has read somewhere that this
product is incredibly virus prone.

Garbage. No more "virus prone" than any other Windows email client. As long
as you have an up-to-date Anti Virus program, save and scan attachments that
you need, and delete emails from people you don't know, then you are 99.9%
safe.

>Now, we receive email viruses here all of the time. We have a firewall, yet
they still seem to get through.

A firewall does NOT stop email.

>What is troublesome is that there doesn't seem to be any product on the
market which comes close to Outlooks abilities to send HTML messages?
>I have read up on this subject and learned that we need to acquire
something called a digital signature? If we acquire this - then recipients
of an email will know >WHO they are getting their email FROM!
>What is confusing me is that the bulk of viruses seem to be on INCOMING
emails! Is this true? If so, then a firewall seems to be a very practical
thing to do yet it >doesn't seem to prevent all viruses from getting past
the network.

See above - a Firewall does NOT stop email! Tell the IT dept to put some
effective virus-scanning software on your mail server. You might add that at
one company I worked for, we were infected by the "I Love You" virus
by....wait for it...ONE OF THE IT DEPT!
Don't take what the IT dept says as gospel, a large number of them don't
know what they are talking about. The IT dept is there to provide a service
to the Company, not the other way around.

Margaret.

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