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Like most of its brethren of the past year, the current
"MyDoom/Novarg" worm (technically, it's not a virus) forges e-mail
From: addresses.  When you get an infected message, the one thing you
can be sure of is that it did NOT come from the person listed in the
From: line.  So it's not at all clear that a list member was the
guilty party.

The very best defense against e-mail worms is to practice "attachment
hygiene".  That means your e-mail software should be configured so
that it NEVER opens an attachment without your permission.  No cute
sounds when you mouse over a message, no little pictures popping up,
nothing.  You, the owner, should also never open unknown attachments.
If you weren't expecting something from a correspondent, don't open it.

(To be fair, the MyDoom/Novarg worm also spreads via Kazaa.  I don't
know enough about Kazaa to tell you how to defend against that part of
the attack.)

Note that Microsoft Outlook is one of the very worst offenders in
spreading worms.  If you use Outlook, you might wish to consider
switching to a safer mail reader.  At a minimum, make sure you have
all the security updates, and be sure you turn off all the attachment
features.  (Sorry, I can't tell you how.  I mistrust Outlook to the
point where I won't even install it in a clean-room environment.)
--
    Geoff Kuenning   geoff@cs.hmc.edu   http://www.cs.hmc.edu/~geoff/

Windows XP is the "most reliable Windows ever," which is like saying
that asparagus is "the most articulate vegetable ever."
        -- Dave Barry

   

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