Date: Friday, July 27, 2001 6:55 AM
From: Stephen Tenhet ([email protected])
To: [email protected]
__Subject: In Order to Have Your Advice __
You're clueless if you believe e-mail attachments shouldn't exist ("In Order to Have Your Advice," July 27, 2001). This is the real world and they are extremely important. I am a remote worker and send all of my reports to my company via e-mail attachment. My customers send attachments containing contracts, graphics, text for their websites, etc.
There are steps which need to be taken to avoid the SirCam-type problem, but eliminating e-mail attachments ain't one of them.
Using your own analogy, this would be the equivalent of eliminating the turn signal because you might forget to turn it off.... clueless, clueless, clueless.
Date: Friday, July 27, 2001 8:51 AM
From: Joe Stoner ([email protected])
To: [email protected]
__Subject: In Order To Have Your Advice __
I just have to say that I believe the article ("In Order to Have Your Advice," July 27, 2001) over-simplifies the idea of attachments way too much -- you can safely click on many attachments even if you don't know who the sender is. The key is to pay attention to the file extension.
For example (and I'm assuming the user is using Windows 9X), let's say that you get an attachment from me, and its file name is britney.jpg. Now I know that if I see that as an attachment it will be OK to open, since its extension is .jpg and my computer handles .jpg files with Paint Shop Pro. The only file extensions you have to look out for is (sic) .vbs, .exe, .bat (although that would be a pretty weak virus), .pif, .com, and the Microsoft Office extensions (.doc, .dot, .xls, .xlt, .ppt, .pot, am I missing any?).
Now, I can understand why some people would tell others to never open any attachments. It's a catchall solution, and will work if it is actually followed. However, I think a little education would go a long way in this area, if the users are willing to learn. The two big things people need to do are: Change their folder settings to always display file extensions (so as to not be tricked by .jpg.vbs files, for example) and stop using Outlook. There are plenty of viable replacements that aren't the target of most new virii and are not nearly as likely to run arbitrary code that mass e-mails all your contacts.
In summary, telling users to never open any attachments will prevent virii from spreading, but it is like telling people that they should not drive in order to prevent car accidents. For many corporate e-mail users, not opening attachments is simply not an option, and if that is your only advice then it will have done nothing to stop the problem. A magazine such as Wired has a target audience of people who want to know more about computers. Why not give the eager-to-learn a lesson in file name extensions, rather than call people who send out attachments "The dumbest people in the world"? People who don't know any better are only going to make fools of themselves when trying to have intelligent conversations with those of us who actually understand that a file with a .jpg attachment is data, not code, and therefore can not propagate a virus.
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