can synchronising newsgroup be dangerous

[David Graham]

Hi
I have recently had to change my email address because of the swen worm - my
inbox was inundated with microsoft security patches and returned postings
etc. I use outlook express's synchronise newsgroup to download all messages.
I have noticed that this group and others which I frequent have this ms
patch thing amongst the postings. So, is the act of synchronising enough to
download and activate this nuisance on my pc. Obviously, I never open these
attachments. I ask because after posting here recently, I have started to
get these ms patch things coming into my inbox again. Only a few so far (it
was hundreds a day) but I guess things will get worse now. I had enjoyed a
spam free inbox for the last few weeks. I guess it is no longer possible to
have a real email address in a newsgroup or perhaps I should try to hide it
as I see a lot of people doing.

I consulted the help section of my AZ antivirus and it claims to protect me
if I did open such an attachment but I doubt it somehow (I do keep it up to
date with the latest signature files). It also suggests that I can save the
attachment to my hard disc and then scan it. I see no 'save as' feature when
I right click on the attachment and I don't want to open it in order to save
it as that would be potentially dangerous. Does anyone know how to use AZ to
scan an attachment to see if it is OK or not.

thanks
David

 

[Stephen Williams]

Hi
I have recently had to change my email address because of the swen worm - my
inbox was inundated with microsoft security patches and returned postings
etc. I use outlook express's synchronise newsgroup to download all

messages.
<<snip>>

I have loads of this rubbish, but now log on to the email server first and
delete them before they get on to my PC.
This is done with a free piece of software called QUICK DELETE which is
available to download from www.yeti-soft.de

Cheers
Steve

 

[brucie]

Hi

hello sexy

I use outlook express's synchronise newsgroup to download all messages.
I have noticed that this group and others which I frequent have this ms
patch thing amongst the postings.

i haven't seen one with my newsfeed. http://news.cis.dfn.de/index.html
its free.

So, is the act of synchronising enough to download and activate this
nuisance on my pc. Obviously, I never open these attachments.

there are a lot of "silent delivery and execution" bugs in windows,
you don't need to do anything but view a post, email or webpage,
opening attachments not required. you may be up-to-date with all the
security patches but will that help when the next hole is exposed?
will your AVS catch it or not? its foolish to use IE or lookout.

I had enjoyed a spam free inbox for the last few weeks. I guess it is no
longer possible to have a real email address in a newsgroup

setup a filter to dump anything other than text/plain emails

or perhaps I should try to hide it as I see a lot of people doing.

http://www.interhack.net/pubs/munging-harmful/

 

[brucie]

I guess it is no longer possible to have a real email address in a newsgroup

The Deadly Duo: Spam and Viruses, September 2003
Last month's reprieve in the spam volume was only temporary, as the
ratio soared from 50 percent to 54 percent in September 2003,
according to measurements from Brightmail's Probe Network. At this
rate, Gartner, Inc.'s forecast of 60 percent by mid-2004 is very
realistic.
http://cyberatlas.internet.com/big_picture/applications/article/0,,1301_3087891,00.html

 

[David Graham]

hello sexy

spare my blushes please!

i haven't seen one with my newsfeed. http://news.cis.dfn.de/index.html
its free.

Thanks for the link

there are a lot of "silent delivery and execution" bugs in windows,
you don't need to do anything but view a post, email or webpage,
opening attachments not required. you may be up-to-date with all the
security patches but will that help when the next hole is exposed?
will your AVS catch it or not? its foolish to use IE or lookout.


setup a filter to dump anything other than text/plain emails

Will I still be able to receive legitimate attachments if I do this? plus do
you know how to safely scan attachments for viruses (daft question I know,
but I can't find an answer in EZ 's help.

http://www.interhack.net/pubs/munging-harmful/

Interesting article. I had been using mailwasher to bounce the offending
emails, and this took forever to do, but from reading the above, it would
seem that I was wasting my time as I wasn't making spam less effective, I
was probably just bouncing back to forged or hijacked addresses. When I
contacted my host about changing email address, the guy on the phone didn't
really give me time to ask about closing the old email address. My social
conscious has been pricked by the above article - I'm letting the spammer
use my old address to bounce evil around the net. I will get back to my host
about closing the old address - or is this something I can do client side?

The situation at present is good - no unwanted emails today, perhaps I have
got away with it this time. I will stop using Outlook Express as my
newsreader and my surfing will now be done with Opera and Mozilla.

Thanks for your input sexy (love your php postings, learnt a lot from them -
I have filed you away in my php folder in your own section)

David

 

[William Tasso]

Thanks for your input sexy (love your php postings, learnt a lot from
them - I have filed you away in my php folder in your own section)

I trust you have a good strong padlock and plenty of gaffer (duct) tape.

 

[brucie]

Will I still be able to receive legitimate attachments if I do this?

no and there is nothing stopping a "legitimate" attachment from
carrying something nasty.

plus do you know how to safely scan attachments for viruses (daft question I
know, but I can't find an answer in EZ 's help.

i don't use AVS software but its actions should be automatic and
transparent (until it finds a problem)

Interesting article. I had been using mailwasher to bounce the offending
emails, and this took forever to do,

and you're probably violating your ISPs TOS