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Trust No One
Email is the greatest thing that ever happened to a virus. In the days of sneaker-net, time was on the side of the antivirus vendors. Each time a new virus was discovered, they rolled out a new update for their products. For many years it proved an effective strategy and infections were fairly limited. Email, however, introduced a whole new breed of viruses and lots of misconceptions.
Myth 1: You can't get a virus simply by reading an email.
False. The Kak virus is just one of several viruses that can infect simply by reading - or even just previewing email. Kak takes advantage of a security vulnerability in Microsoft® Outlook and Outlook Express. The Email Help Center provides steps to defend against viruses such as Kak.
Myth 2: My computer came with antivirus software, so I don't have to worry about viruses.
False. Whatever antivirus software came pre-installed on the computer, or was purchased in a computer store, or even downloaded over the Internet is old and must be updated to be effective. Even then, antivirus software has very limited ability to detect unknown viruses. Accurate detection requires a special update that includes a "fingerprint" of the virus. These updates are often referred to as signature, definition, or pattern file updates. As a result, antivirus vendors routinely update their software - some pledge daily updates though the average is weekly. Even if the antivirus software was updated on a Monday, a virus detected on the following Tuesday would most likely go undetected. Antivirus software is a good part of the solution, but user understanding of safe computing is a much more important part.
Myth 3: If the email is from someone you know, you can open any attachments safely.
False. Most email-borne viruses are received as attachments from someone you do know. Actually called mass-mailing email worms, these viruses spread by sending themselves to everyone in the infected user's address book. If you're in their address book, you'll get a copy of the virus from "them". If you enabled file extension viewing, you'll be able to spot an executable type file and take preventive action. If you're not familiar with the file extension, FILExt.com has an exhaustive list of suffixes and what types of files they are. Before opening any email attachment, it should be saved to the local drive first and scanned for known viruses. If the file is an executable file type, don't stop at just a virus scan. It could be a new virus and thus undetectable to your antivirus software. Contact the sender to ensure they intended to send it. If they know nothing about it, delete the file or send it to your antivirus vendor for analysis.
The Infected Attachment Center lists some of the more common attachment names known to be viral and are cross-referenced with the virus description.
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