Re: Nail.exe in Windows -- Virus problem, I think

[J R FOX jr_fox@xxxxxxxxxx]

--- "Patricia M. Godfrey"  wrote:

> There are different sorts of malware out there, all
> stuff you don't want
> on your PC. Antivirus isn't enough nowadays; you
> also need a firewall
> (if you have broadband, you may well have a hardware
> one in your router;
> but you may need a software one too), antispyware
> and antiadware.


Patricia,

You really don't need any of that stuff -- except for
the firewall -- *if* you happen to be running a
certain OS. [Hint, Hint.] One could probably make an
interesting case for just doing all of one's internet
activity on the platform of which I speak, even if it
is not the day-to-day OS for everything else. In that
scenario, the only thing you'd give up is the ability
to run much of the streaming video that exists at some
websites -- but Big Deal ! That would cut out most of
your exposure right there.

Mac or Linux users also have a microscopic fraction of
the risk that faces Win users.

> 3. The two weeks I tried out DSL, I shut the "modem"
> off when I wasn't
> using it. That may be a counsel of perfection to
> some, but you might
> well think about it--especially if you leave your
> system up and unattended.

I sometimes do that, but mostly as a matter of
convenience / annoyance. The hardware firewall I use
is quite effective, but I still get all these stupid
intrusion attempts from the script kiddies cluttering
up the firewall logs, which need to be purged
periodically. (Even if the Netbus or other Win-based
incursions could get through, they would be null &
void unless I happened to be running WinBlows at that
moment.)

> 4. Needless to say, I don't open attachements whose
> origins are dubious.

Good and standard advice. But irrelevent here, since
I don't do any mail under Win. If you use certain
web-based mail gateways, as I do when away from home,
you'll also find that they have their own Norton AV in
effect, so those messages have already had everything
but the headers stripped out by the time you get
there. Neat.

> And use a plain-text e-mail reader; i.e., one that
> doesn't display HTML.

I guess you're referring to JavaScript exploits here.


Jordan