I think the idea is bogus for the simple reason that not all
Worms (for those that do) will attack your address book
alphabetically descending (or with a serial read.)
An analogy can be made with Virii that searched the internet
for addresses to attack. The early ones did just that,
starting at the lowest numbered address (or the lowest
alphabetized domain,) the newer ones look for vulnerable IP
addresses in a more complex and intelligent manner. The
lastest edition of Serverworld (which I got yesterday)
explains this in some depth.
-----Original Message-----
From: Chuck Ryan [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, January 29, 2002 8:59 AM
To: Johnson, Tracy; [log in to unmask]
Subject: RE: Outlook - Personal Address Books, to Keep or Not to Keep,
That is the Question
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Johnson, Tracy [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Monday, January 28, 2002 3:02 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Outlook - Personal Address Books, to Keep or Not to
> Keep, That
> is the Question
>
>
What do you think of this method?
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jon Stern" <[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
To: "J Stern" <[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Sent: Tuesday, December 18, 2001 9:27 PM
Subject: Simple computer tip
> Hi all,
> Please excuse the intrusion. This is a bona fide way to prevent your
> computer from infecting friends if you ever get one of those
> email-replicating worm viruses. Simple to do, too. (Besides, it couldn't
> hurt...)
> Best holiday wishes to you and yours,
> JS
>
> I learned a computer trick today that's really ingenious in its
simplicity.
>
> As you may know, when/if a worm virus gets into your computer it
> heads straight for your email address book and sends itself to
> everyone in there, thus infecting all your friends and associates.
> This trick won't keep the virus from getting into your computer, but
> it will stop it from using _your_ address book to spread further, and
> it will alert you to the fact that the worm has gotten into your
> system.
> Here's what you do: First, open your address book and click on
> "new " contact" or "new person" just as you would do if you were
> adding a new friend to your list of email addresses. In the window
> where you would type your friend's FIRST name, type in !000
> (that's an exclamation mark followed by 3 zeros). In the window
> below where it prompts you to enter the new email address, type in
> WormAlert. Then complete everything by clicking add, enter, OK,
> etc.
> Now, here's what you've done and why it works: the "name" !000
> will be placed at the top of your address book as entry #1. This
> will be where the worm will start in an effort to send itself to all
> your friends.
> But when it tries to send itself to !000, it will be undeliverable
> because of the phony email address you entered (WormAlert). If
> the first attempt fails (which it will because of the phony address),
> the worm goes no further and your friends will not be infected.
> Here's the second great advantage of this method: if an email
> cannot be delivered, you will be notified of this in your InBox
> almost immediately.
> Hence, if you ever get an email telling you that an email addressed
> to WormAlert could not be delivered, you know right away that you
> have the worm virus in your system. You can then take steps to get rid of
> it.
> Pretty slick huh?
>
> If everybody you know does this then you needn't ever worry about
> opening mail from friends. Pass this on to all your friends.
>
>
* To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, *
* etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *
|
