From bateson@usc.edu Fri Apr 6 11:47:37 2001 Received: from mxu4.u.washington.edu (mxu4.u.washington.edu [140.142.33.8]) by lists.u.washington.edu (8.11.2+UW01.01/8.11.2+UW01.03) with ESMTP id f36IlRK11290 for ; Fri, 6 Apr 2001 11:47:28 -0700 Received: from usc.edu (root@usc.edu [128.125.253.136]) by mxu4.u.washington.edu (8.11.2+UW01.01/8.11.2+UW01.03) with ESMTP id f36IlR728906 for ; Fri, 6 Apr 2001 11:47:27 -0700 Received: from almaak.usc.edu (root@almaak.usc.edu [128.125.253.167]) by usc.edu (8.9.3.1/8.9.3/usc) with ESMTP id LAA16233 for ; Fri, 6 Apr 2001 11:47:00 -0700 (PDT) Received: from musss3 (musss3.usc.edu [128.125.167.4]) by almaak.usc.edu (8.9.3.1/8.9.3/usc) with ESMTP id LAA01759 for ; Fri, 6 Apr 2001 11:47:00 -0700 (PDT) Message-Id: <4.2.0.58.20010406114245.00a4b878@almaak.usc.edu> X-Sender: bateson@almaak.usc.edu X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 4.2.0.58 Date: Fri, 06 Apr 2001 11:47:45 -0700 To: classics@u.washington.edu From: Carol Bateson Subject: Something about those Trojans Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed From the Latest "Scambusters" newsletter, a message warning on "privacy" with Classical content: http://www.scambusters.org/ Each mistake is easy to correct, and put together, they can make a huge difference. And they should all sound pretty familiar. We'll start with... 1. Don't Let Strangers In The House -------------------------------- You may be surprised to learn that the most important thing you can do to protect your privacy online is to have, and use, a good virus checker. While viruses usually don't pose privacy threats, a good anti- virus program also checks for and removes trojans. Some trojans can open your computer up to remote control by anyone who has the right software. Once these virtual peeping Toms find a computer that's been infected by the right sort of trojan, they can do anything they want with your machine. They can delete files, run programs, and yes - they can read anything on your machine. They can download any information you have stored on your computer. Address books, personal emails, banking and credit card information, digital photos, business files... You name it. This is one of the most common ways for online stalkers to get information on their victims. It may actually be the main way they choose them. Even if you never run into one of the dangerous types, is this really the kind of information you'd just leave laying around for anyone with a little curiosity to come in and pick up? Fortunately, it's fairly easy to avoid becoming infected by a trojan. 1. Don't ever run attachments from anyone but trusted sources. 2. Download software only from reputable sites. 3. Run a virus checker on every new program you install, no matter where it came from. 4. Regularly update your anti-virus software, and check your system for infection frequently. Just those few steps will drastically reduce the potential for serious invasion of your privacy. .