And I may as well update Tom and the rest of you with
the latest info learned.
For months, I was being sent those cyber bombs and had
a few candidates as to whom it might have been. Seems
to me, after doing more research, I was wrong.
Tom is correct. The virus that is going around masks
the name of the sender.
HOWEVER, with that said, and with the intention to NOT
insult anyone, here is what was happening to me as a
list owner.
I kept getting attempts to bomb me cyberally for
months. I use virus protections on the computers I
use AND I use an interface for any email program I
use. To compound my protections, I IMMEDIATELY sort
my mail by size (largest to smallest) and I resort
several times while I'm going through mail. In this
way, I can usually spot the virus attempt. The virus
usually appears as a note (at least in Yahoo) of about
122K (plus or minus).
The other day, I received one abnormal in size. Not
knowing from where it was coming or if it were just a
long winded friend, I clicked (again using computer
virus protections and an interface). Sure as heck, it
was that same stupid pattern.
This time, I got smarter about it. I checked the long
headers. Since I had already clicked, and if the
demons COULD get to me, the damage was already done, I
clicked on another I had already trashed.
In both instances, the notes came from the same sender
and it came from a free email domain site.
I attempted to use the automated complaint feature on
that email site. It turns out that the party in
question uses a free email service that allows people
from all over the world EXCEPT the US, United States,
or America to use their service, and country is a
required field, with the above names omitted from
their pull-down menu. I tried to then cheat and say I
was from Canada. It still wouldn't take my note.
I will tell you now that the domain in question came
from the United Arab Emirates.
I hate war and contention. I hate it when people are
at odds with one another.
In the era of the computer, the wars are being fought
in a different fashion. We saw the cyber attacks on
commercial sites when the plane went down in China.
There was a long-standing cyber war on both sides of
the firewalls.
Now the sabers are being rattled again. 9/11 quickly
approaches, and the memories of the attacks will not
soon be forgotten or will the war against Al Qaeda.
I do not intend to turn this into a political
discussion. I do not intend to say one side is good
and the other side is bad. But Al Qaeda is reported
to be heavily using technology in its efforts to
combat what it considers to be the enemy, and there
are cells everywhere as the news is quick to report.
I don't like the virii. I hate having to be so damned
cautious. But the museums list is an open forum to
which any can join (and should for the free exchange
of information). We should be able to celebrate our
samenesses and explore and learn about our differences
in peace. But civilization has only had something
like 250 years of uninterrupted warfare (or so I read
last week sometime), and perhaps (wo)man is incapable
of being a peace loving society for long.
Do what you can to protect yourself and your computer.
Do make backups regularly. Update your virus
protections. Just know that cyber terrorists are
always inventing new and improved ways to get to the
unsuspecting, and ultimately, we may not able to stop
them.
I asked Yahoogroups to block the domain in question.
While I did not get a response from them, the very
next day, I lost an unprecedented 12 members in the
count, with only two unsubs and an equal or greater
number of ads. Not only that, but I was temporarily a
hard bounce on all lists til I resubbed myself. I
believe they acted on my request.
Therein lies the rub. Spammers and terrorist may just
reinvent themselves over and over again on the same
domain, and the only way to block
them--temporarily--is to block the domain.
The SOB that has been sending them to me has been
willful. These were not just oops, the virus got
volleyed from Tom with Roy's name on it.
So be cautious, and let's hope there is peace and
cyber tolerance in the days ahead.
--- "Tom D. Bennett" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> A note to all:
>
> depending on the virus it could have been sent from
> anyone, anywhere. Many
> of them are spread through a person's addressbook,
> so that if you are in
> another's addressbook, you may well be getting it
> from them without their
> knowing it. Pretty devious stuff.
>
> If you want to check your machine for free online at
> any time, just go to
> http://housecall.antivirus.com/
> This is Trend Micro's site and it does an excellent
> job. You can use it as
> often as you like.
>
> Also, just because you have a Mac doesn't exempt you
> from virus infection,
> so don't let yourself be lulled into a false sense
> of security!
>
> Tom Bennett
> Exhibit Support, AK
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
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