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Don't let this happen to you:
I just got a call from a friend I've had since high school. He's an
attorney and a pretty smart guy when he stops talking about himself. He
actually said less in this 10 minute call than in any other 10 minute period
since I've known him. He uses AOL to get onto the internet and AOL had
closed his account because he had used it to send out 3000 emails in a 1
hour period. Naturally, it wasn't him, it was someone who had gotten a hold
of his AOL password and used his account to perpetrate the spamming.
He didn't know how it had happened. For as long as he has had email, he has
been telling me about the funny programs people send him from time to time.
I've always told him he was crazy for running the stuff and he has always
written me off as a geek. It could be the one of the programs he ran had a
standard virus that allowed someone to take over his computer, install a
keystroke monitor and upload everything he typed to the internet. I asked
him if he had used his credit card online recently. "Yeah, I booked a
flight a few days ago for me and my wife to go see her father." What about
your social security number? "Uh..." Do you have personal information
stored on your computer like bank account numbers, investment account
numbers, social security numbers, etc.? "Yes"
Now he is ROYALLY SCREWED!!! He will spend the rest of the night calling
credit card companies and the credit reporting agencies putting himself on
Fraud Alert. If someone tries to register a credit card in his or his
wife's name, they will call him. He will have to check his credit cards
closely for the next few months to make sure no one else is using them. He
will have to check his credit report to make sure no one buys a house or a
Porsche in his name. And I told him that the safest thing to do was to
format and re-install Windows on both his and his wife's machines, neither
of which had virus protection. He doesn't have a clue how to do this and
may end up buying me a bottle of Cuervo Anejo if I agree to do it for him
this Saturday. AOL had cancelled his AOL account because of the spamming
but they agreed to give him a temporary account when he called to explain
what had happened. Hopefully that won't interfere with his practice too
much because he probably uses that for his primary email contact.
Naturally, I took the opportunity to remind him that this was why I had
always told him to never run any application that he gets from anyone unless
he is certain the person sending it can vouch for it's contents. He wasn't
so smug this time.
It doesn't take much effort to protect yourself. Mostly, this consists of
not being stupid. I went for a decade without getting any form of virus
protection and never got a single virus. I now have virus protection and
keep it up to date, but I'm still careful. The downside of not big careful
is a big one.
Kent
----- Original Message -----
From: "List Maintainer" <omega-list-request@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <omega-list@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2002 1:39 PM
Subject: Virus Alert: <dbewers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
The computer of <dbewers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> appears to be infected
with a virus, as it sent one to the list address. Filters in the
list server prevent distribution of viruses through the list, but if
you have posted to the list, your address may be in this person's
computer, and the virus may send itself to you directly.
Be alert, and don't open email you are unsure of, at least
on a MicroSoft computer.
--
jimo@xxxxxxxxxx
maintainer of the omega list
omega-list-request@xxxxxxxxxx
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