Robert Citkowitz wrote;
>Is there a system - procedure/application - to avoid inadvertently going to
>these nasty domains (aside from knowing the IP and blocking it)?

It sounds like you have your system pretty well set up. A few things I would
give some thought to which you may already have done are over ride the
cookie feature in Internet Explorer and set your junk Email filter higher. I
have my IE set to prompt for everything. On occasion there will be a site
that notifies you that you don't have cookies set. In that case if I really
want to visit them and I know they are legitimate, I will allow the cookies.
Then again you have to remember to revert back to your original security
settings. The latter deals with either Outlook or Outlook Express. I have my
Junk Mail filters set high and I have also included a setting where by you
can't open the file or attachments in the junk mail folder. This helps
prevent the overwhelming curiosity of "wanting" to know what's in there. It
is a safety feature I use especially for those that might want to use my
computer.

> I read suspicious email offline
> What else can I do?

Why do you want to read suspicious email at all? Regardless if you read it
off line or not, if it is infected or has a tracking cookie you still allow
it to gain access to your system. I don't read anything anytime for any
reason that has the smell of smack. If you set your Junk Mail accordingly
you can view the subject line and if there are attachments, go away knowing
you may have saved yourself the frustration and headache of tearing down
you're hard drive to rid yourself of the culprit.

I run several programs for security reasons. Please make sure your virus
definitions are up to date, run Windows Update to make sure your system has
the latest critical updates and patches, Use the information at Gibson
Research to close any ports that may be open. http://www.grc.com/default.htm
Run the utilities here to accomplish that. In addition to this there are
several programs that have pop up blockers. Zone Alarm, Ad Aware are two I
use and of course, when you run Microsoft's "Defender"
http://tinyurl.com/47cus it will help too. There may be people who don't
like it however; it is an individual choice as to what will work for you. I
run the programs mentioned and they are meant to be suggestive. There isn't
one program out there that can do the perfect job on everything. Some of the
programs are free like Avast and the low level Zone Alarm and if cost is a
factor then we have to make that choice due to budget restraints. If safety
is more important, the cost of the upgraded program is well worth the cost
of security. How much does it cost to rebuild your hard drive? How much is
the lost information worth to you?

Be safe on the internet. Don't open anything you don't recognize. Keep your
system updated with the necessary virus definitions and anti spam utilities.
Other than that... Enjoy.

Sincerely,

Frank Suszka
netTek Computers
[log in to unmask] 




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