"Danger, Will Roobenson!"

Tis the season to be.. Faa la la la!

Yes, it is that time of year again. It seems that virus infections happen about this time of year. Flu bugs, fevers, and computers.

Oh, yes! Computers too. Case in point, I have received, in my eMail Inbox, a large number of strange messages. All of them with attached ZIP files. Who from you ask? How about the CIA, the FBI, and various and sundry Internet Service Provider’s Email servers. The server messages say that a message that I ‘supposedly’ sent had been declared undeliverable and the ‘bounced’ message is returned to me in a zip file.
Funny thing is, the CIA and FBI messages said I had been tracked visiting 30 illegal web sites and that I needed to open the attached zip file and answer the questions.

You may have gotten a few of these things yourself. If you have, I hope none of you actually opened the things because there is a nasty surprise inside that you DO NOT want on your system. A VIRUS! If your service provider has an up to date virus filter, you may not even see the things, but if you do, please erase them. Do not do anything else, because you will be ‘helping’ the virus authors in spreading the sickness to all your friends.

What happens is that your address book is scanned and a copy of the virus is sent to every address in it. It also buries itself inside your system to make eradicating it is difficult.

A couple of points for you to consider.

1. The CIA and FBI do not send out eMails in situations like that. They will come to your door. Besides, I have yet to find an ‘illegal’ web site!
2. ISP’s do not take the time to compress the ‘bounced’ eMail message they return to you. It comes back the same way it was sent.

So, in light of the ‘threat’, don’t open the attached zip file. Make sure your Anti-Virus scanner is up to date, and don’t get curious as to the content of that zip file. Ok?

Computers are fun! But this kind of ‘fun’ wastes time, money, and effort. All because some ‘jerkoid’ wants to see how much damage he can cause.

We’re all in this together, folks, so keep an eye out for this stuff.

And, above all else, HAVE FUN!