Laptops are a Virus Risk: How to Email Safely

It's been seven years since the "I LOVE YOU" email virus of 2000, but these email viruses still manage to infect people. More importantly, email-based trojans are still being used to launch more complex, and subtle attacks. (See Timeline of notable computer virues and worms.)

A contemporary high-risk scenario involves laptops that leave the office, and become home computers in the evening.

Office networks generally have some form of malware detection and quarantine. More sophisticated sites run centralized file scanning and email scanning, combined with restricted user access, to reduce the impact of malware. So, within the office network, when a recognized virus appears, it's contained, and doesn't have the opportunity to destroy the network.

Outside of the office, though, tight security is a lot less common. Computers connected to the internet are attacked, relentlessly, by armies of "zombied" computers. Email malware floods into mailboxes.

Avoiding the Plague

One way to avoid the risk of the plague of malware is to modify your computer use so that it's a less inviting target. The following techniques will reduce your risk.

Environment

If you use Outlook for work, don't use it for your personal email. The Outlook and Outlook Express email clients are the most popular targets for virus-writers. They know that everyone gets a free copy of either one (or both) with their new computer. They also know it's hard to disable Outlook Express.

By using one of the less popular email applications, you deprive the viruses of the "environment" to spread. Some popular clients are Thunderbird, Sylpheed, Pegasus, and Eudora.

Turn on Anti-Virus at the ISP

If you're using your ISP-provided email address, you should find out if they offer anti-virus scanning. If so, you should turn that feature on. If they charge for it, you should consider paying, or switching to another email service.

Use Webmail

The big webmail sites do virus scanning. Hotmail, Yahoo, and Gmail can scan your messages for viruses. These aren't totally risk-free, but they are safer than nothing.