Computer Viruses: Only Trust Those You Know?
You may have received those bits of advice about viruses from supposed computer experts. They usually advise you to follow two guidelines:
Don't open attachments that come from strangers.
Don't open attachments unless you are expecting them.
Both suggestions are ridiculous.
Okay, you know the sender. Does your acquaintance with the sender mean that the attachment is virus- free? Of course not!
That advice is patently wrong.
Some viruses send messages to the first 50 names from a person's Outlook address book. The messages contain virused attachments, and they include an enticing subject line, with statements such as, "I'll get back to you soon. In the meantime, check the attached letter."
Somebody you know sent out that message. You know that person so well that you are in their address book!
The advice to open attachments only from people you know is absurd. In this case, the people you know are likely to prove more harmful than those you don't know! Perhaps you should suspect those e-mails more than others.
Clearly, just because you know a person doesn't mean that their system is clean or virus-free. Do you really believe that your contacts have clean computers, whereas the people whom you don't know have virused computers?
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Keyword: Trust
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