Flash to a conversation overheard in a checkout line: when one person asks another why they hadn’t responded to an email, the resopnse comes: “there was an attachment in your last email, and I heard that attachments could be bad… so I didn’t open it.”
That reminded me of a past cartoon…
You really do have to be careful these days: I regularly receive emails with small .zip or .jpg attachments that no doubt hold all sorts of nasty goodies. Don’t open attachments unless you really know (and can confirm!) who they came from and what the attachments are.
As Stephen Sinofsky said in this discussion on the impact of “I Love You” virus that infected computers worldwide in 2000…
“Always make sure you have anti-virus software running and that it is up to date. Ensure you have the latest product updates… You should also practice safe computing practices, such as being very careful when opening email attachments.”
More info:
- Stephen Pritchard’s article “Win the battle: Internet and Email Security“
- See this Office training for more on on sending and receiving photos and attachments with confidence.
(BTW, the cartoon is by the talented Cam Cardow of The Ottawa Citizen.)
Tags: Friday Link, humour, security, OneCare.
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