Damages caused by computer virus have been increasing day by day. Mr. Yoshinobu Nakamura, a computer advisor, sent me a following mail yesterday, suggesting to stop mails with attached files.
He said hBefore you open the attached file, you should check it with the latest version of anti-virus soft. But it is recommended NOT TO OPEN the attached files, NOT TO SEND them.
Furthermore, mails in HTML style are not immune against the virus infringement. When you need to send them by all means, it is better to use homepage space. Register the files such as pictures to your server with FTP and write its URL only on mail. The following is its example:
http://www.atheneum.co.jp/nakamura/map.gif
There are people who check mails by the simple terminals (PDAAi-mode and etc.). They confirm the message first in this way and later when they get leisure time, for example, at their homes, they spend enough time for confirming the security of pictures. In this way, their loss time will be minimized.
However as far as there are people who favor the attached files, virus will not diminish."
He sent me another mail today.
hI found the following article. It reorted that The Information Technology Promotion Agency, Japan (IPA) issued an emergency warning. The damages caused by virus which use wrongly the function of internet mail system are increasing sharply. It is the most probable to have much more damages as the season of Christmas and New Year mails are coming. That is why the emergency warning was issued now.
http://www.ipa.go.jp/security/topics/alert131218.html
(no Enblish translation is avaioable.)
In its article, they say "Do not send attached files easily.ixxx. exe file is the most dangerous !!)."
*Mr. Nakamura is suggesting about the Internet Explorer that the selection of its versions is important. He said as follows:
hAfter activating the Internet Explorer, you proceed from 'help' to 'version information.' If you find version 5.01xx or 5.50xx and also their renewed version is SP2. it is good. If not, you re-proceed from 'tool' to 'Windows Update.' If you come from 5.01xx, you select '5.01 ServicePack2' and down load or install it. If you come from.50xx, you select '5.50 Service Pack' and down load or install it.
Although Internet Explorer Version 6 has been announced already, it is better not to install it in haste. Because due to the composition of machines or versions of windows, the machines do not work well sometimes.
Every people connecting to internet must be security conscious. The beginners are not exception. For the time being, to visit Windows Update frequently or Yahoo's top page is recommended.
When Nimda attacked internet systems, the mass media reported positively.
When you hear somehing about the infusion of virus, it is your problem on which you have to work. You have to make efforts to get to know about what kinds of virus are active and how to deal with it."
This morning, NHK TV reported the serious damages caused by virus.