At 02:41 PM 04/05/02 -0500, Adrian wrote:
>I do not totally understand e-mail and viruses and doubt that I ever will.
>[...]
>I have installed an anti-virus program on my computer, and recently
>installed a firewall (which is thoroughly messing up my computer thanks
>to my ignorance of how to use it--I have been banning IP addresses that
>I need). Neither has protected me from spam. And I am very cautious
>about what attachments I open.
Good to see you didn't leave the list, Adrian!
A firewall will not protect you from viruses within attachments that you have
opened. What it will protect you from is some twit with evil intent gaining
access to your machine without your knowledge or permission, to take part
in Denial-Of-Service attacks and the like.
Those using Windows-based systems can check their machine's susceptibility
to such use on the "Shields Up!" site at:
https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2
For those technically-oriented Sinclairs, there's some very interesting
articles
about stealth ports, "bots", DOS attacks, etc.. on this site.
yours in stealth,
Ian Newman
Perth, Western Australia
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