Inter Engineering

Inter Engineering and F-Secure Corporation are warning computer users against possible viruses and worms that may lodge in "Happy Valentine's Day" messages. The best way to avoid such malware is to refrain from opening messages from unknown persons. The best protection is an up-to-date antivirus program and a personal firewall to detect malware and stop hacking.

However, to protect yourself against dangers from viruses, worms and hacking attempts, there are a few additional tips and tricks that may save your computer from damage or from being taken over by hackers.

Most viruses and worms that spread through e-mail use Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express to spread. If you need to use Outlook, download and install the latest Outlook security patches from Microsoft. In general, keep your operating system and applications up-to-date and apply the latest patches when they become available. Be sure to get the updates directly from the vendor.

Configure your Windows system to always show file extensions. In Windows 2000, this is done through Explorer via the Tools menu: Tools/Folder Options/View - and uncheck "Hide file extensions for known file types". This makes it more difficult to for harmful files (such as an EXE or VBS) to masquerade as harmless files (such as TXT or JPG).

Never open e-mail attachments with the file extensions VBS, SHS or PIF. These extensions are almost never used in normal attachments but they are frequently used by viruses and worms. Also never open attachments with double file extensions such as NAME.BMP.EXE or NAME.TXT.VBS

If you feel that an e-mail you get from a friend is somehow strange - if it is in a foreign language or if it just says odd things, double-check with the friend before opening any attachments.

Never accept attachments from strangers in online chat systems such as IRC, ICQ or AOL Instant Messenger. Furthermore, avoid downloading files from public newsgroups (Usenet news). These are often used by virus writers to distribute their new viruses.

For more information on viruses and worms, see http://www.f-secure.com/virus-info/

An example of a current malicious Valentine-themed e-mail threat is described in detail at: http://www.f-secure.com/v-descs/adwdrop.shtml

About Inter Engineering

Inter Engineering is one of the few companies specialized in Data Security. Since 1992 the company is active in the protection against computer viruses and has since then extended its activities with strong cryptography, access control, copy protection, biometrics, data recovery and year 2000 solutions. The Company cooperates closely with leading providers globally and contributes actively to research and development. Also close relationships with scientific organizations are maintained. Thus Inter Engineering is able to provide consultancy and solutions for almost any Data Security issue.

Inter Engineering
P.O. Box 1626
410 02 Larissa, Greece
Tel. +30.2410.670030
Fax. +30.2410.670006
Email: sales@inter.gr