On Thu, 17 Jan 2002, Met History wrote:

> > An unwary recipient who opens and reads the often
> > intriguingly-titled document will infect his or her own system
>
> Polygon, just who are these people who open or download obviously strange
> files like this?  Are they the same people who don't use birth control, or
> what?    Christopher

They have been compared to people who would drive down the highway for
miles with their turn signal on.

See http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,45581,00.html

However, I have corresponded with highly intelligent people whose
computers were infected by viruses.

Some of them share a computer with a relatively clueless family member.
Or they mindlessly clicked on something and regretted it just a nanosecond
too late.

Others were careless enough (or forced by employers) to use MS-Outlook --
or worse, Outlook Express -- as their email software.

Outlook is designed from the ground up to be virus-friendly.  It will open
and run suspicious attachments for you -- no user cluelessness required.
Not for nothing are the latest wave of viruses called OTD's: "Outlook
Transmitted Diseases."

Microsoft claims that the virus-enabling features are "necessary" for a
"rich computing experience".  No one should use Outlook if they can
possibly avoid it.  Eudora has similar features but is much safer.

And finally, as computer security folks have pointed out for years,
ordinary users don't make the best security decisions even under ideal
conditions.  What chance do they have against viruses that, for example,
package themselves as friendly messages from their usual correspondents?

I have even received a virus that pretends to be an antivirus update sent
from your harried computer network person -- the text asks that you please
install it right away to protect agast the current outbreak.

                                Larry

---
Lawrence Kestenbaum, [log in to unmask]
Washtenaw County Commissioner, 4th District
The Political Graveyard, http://politicalgraveyard.com
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Mailing address: P.O. Box 2563, Ann Arbor MI 48106