At 06:39 PM 11/27/2001 -0600, you wrote:
Do yourself and your address book a favor -- go to
>
http://support.microsoft.com/ and upgrade your email to the current
> version. It's free and has security measures to prevent this type of
> attack.
My suggestion to those who are not tied into a specific email program by
their isp (AOL, MSN, etc), is to quit using Outlook Express and switch over
to a stand alone email program such as Eudora. Norton email scanning also
works perfectly with this program. You can download the program for free at:
http://www.eudora.com/
No program is perfect, but Eudora doesn't appear to have the
vulnerabilities that the email programs that come with the browsers
have. It is also very easy to set up filters so that you can have
mailboxes for all your different lists or interests.
I've been using it for years now, and although I always run the current
antivirus software, I haven't had the problem with viruses attacking my
address book like many others.
It's also very important to run a firewall program as well. This will
protect you from hackers and back door trojans as Rich has mentioned. Some
very good ones are Norton Internet Security (also comes with antivirus
right along with it), Zone Alarm, and BlackIce Defender. I use this last
one, and although it recommends installing it on all computers within a
network, the potential attackers never make it past my computer to even
register on my kids computers.
Sue