Re: Outlook and irrational virus fears

Tech-Archive recommends: Speed Up your PC by fixing your registry

From: Merlin (imerlin_at_hotmail.com)
Date: 05/17/04 

Date: Mon, 17 May 2004 15:03:29 +0000 (UTC)

Yikes!

Your IT staff are not very knowledable!

A firewall will never stop a virus (although some have this added features now), that's not it's job - A firewall is a network security device (computer hardware and firewall software) that is used to control access to other computers. A firewall allows access to authorized computers and denies access to unauthorized computers. An example of this is the front gate to a military base; a guard allows authorized persons to enter the base and turns away unauthorized persons. - although the route for some virus's/Trojans is through an unprotected/wrongly enabled port.

Whether you use Microsoft Outlook or any other modern email client is irrelevant as they will all now display active content, which without anti-virus software installed may automatically install a virus or provide links for you to inadvertently install a virus. Unfortunatley virus's are a way of life now, all it takes is you to send an email to someone that unknowingly has a virus installed and it then starts sending you emails with the virus to try and infect your PC and many a time it will disguise the from address(spoofing) so you think it came from someone else and visa/versa somebody thinks they received one from you - drives me MAD!

If as it appears you are within a company then you must install a centralised antivirus solution on your server that will scan all incoming email and automatically update itself with the latest anti-virus definitions and also install/update these automatically to all connected network client PC's - that together with a Firewall and formal guidlines for email use, i.e (don't try to open attachments from unknown parties) is all you can do.

Heck your IT staff can't take Outlook away, they might as well take the PC and give you a Typewriter :)

Merlin

  "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.

  Now, we receive email viruses here all of the time. We have a firewall, yet they still seem to get through. The subject lines say things like "details", "hi", and things of that nature - I know well enough to not open these.

  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.

  Is there someone who can comment on whether it is OK to use Outlook as a means to send email messages? What are the proper precautions to be taken?

  I am sorry, but I like to be knowledgable and I like to sound like I know what I am talking about rather than split hairs over things that MIGHT happen.

  Margaret.

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