Reflectorites
On Sat, 6 May 2000 12:40:43 +0100, Richard Wein wrote:
>Don,
>
>I'm glad to be able to say that I've never been infected by a virus (of the
>computer variety, that is), and I know little about them. So could you
>please clarify something for me. What kinds of files can contain a virus?
>Obviously EXE files. I know Word files can contain a virus in a macro (but I
>have Word set not to execute macros). Can HTML files contain macros? (In
>Java code?) Any other commonly used file types?
[...]
As I understand it, any file that is not straight ASCII text can contain a
virus. And file that has a scripting language (e.g. Microsoft Office products)
can also carry viruses. Even HTML files can carry virus through Java
routines.
That is why I suggested that we make it as rule to only post straight
ASCII text. That is, turn HTML formatting off (its hard to read and wastes
space anyway), and don't post non-ASCII text attachments.
Since many viruses these days attack through Microsoft Outlook, it
might be a good idea to use a non-standard emailer. I use PMMail98
which is inexpensive, full-featured, easy to use, and with no known
bugs. It can be obtained through http://www.southsoft.com/.
And also run *up-to-date* anti-virus software.
Steve
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Stephen E. (Steve) Jones ,--_|\ Email: sejones@iinet.net.au
3 Hawker Avenue / Oz \ Web: http://www.iinet.net.au/~sejones
Warwick 6024 -> *_,--\_/ Phone: +61 8 9448 7439
Perth, Western Australia v "Test everything." (1 Thess. 5:21)
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