All About E-mail
E-mail Virus FAQ
What can a virus do to my computer?
Viruses are software programs that run on your computer. The actual effect of any particular virus depends on how it was programmed by the person who wrote the virus. Some viruses are deliberately designed to damage files or otherwise interfere with your computer's operation, while others don't do anything but attempt to replicate and spread themselves around. But even the ones that just replicate and spread themselves are harmful, since they may cause other problems in the process of spreading such as overloading network and email platforms. No virus can do physical damage to your computer. That is a virus cannot damage any of your computer hardware such as the CPU hard drive etc. Warnings about viruses that claim they will damage your computer components are usually just hoaxes, not legitimate viruses. However, viruses can damage software by deleting or corrupting files on your hard drive, and may require you to reload some or all of the software on your computer. What is the difference between viruses, worms, and Trojan horses?
A computer virus is a program written to alter the way a computer operates, without the permission or knowledge of the user. When executed a virus will often replicate itself by placing its own code into another program or replacing executable files with a copy of the virus-infected file. Worms are programs that duplicate themselves from system to system without the use of a host file. Where as a virus requires the spreading of an infected host file, worms usually exist inside other files, such as Microsoft Word or Excel documents, there is a difference between how worms and viruses use the host file. Usually a worm releases a document that already has the "worm" macro inside the document. The entire document will travel from computer to computer, so the entire document should be considered the worm. Trojan Horses are impostors. They claim to be something desirable but in fact are malicious. An important distinction between viruses and Trojan horses is that Trojan horses do not replicate themselves, as viruses do. How do I get a virus?
Before the Internet the most common method of becoming infected by a virus was by using an infected disk on your computer. With the Internet, the most common way to become infected is via email. The most popular means of getting a virus from e-mail is by opening an infected file that was sent as an attachment. If you don't open or run an infected file you can't become infected. What is the Anti-Virus feature?
Brightmail's Anti-Virus technology, powered by Symantec(tm), is a comprehensive anti-virus feature that is available for FREE to all members. It detects suspected viruses and cleans them before they ever reach your AT&T Worldnet Service mailbox. If the suspected virus cannot be cleaned, the e-mail attachment containing it is deleted. You are notified via email if:
Yes, the E-mail Virus Filtering feature is available to master account owners as well as on secondary e-mail IDs. How do I enable/disable the Anti-Virus feature?
As an AT&T Worldnet subscriber the E-mail Virus Filtering feature is automatically enabled. However, if you wish to disable the feature here are the steps:
No. Only software is used to evaluate the body (contents) of e-mail and any e-mail attachments to determine whether or not they contain viruses, so no one will read your e-mails and your privacy will be maintained. Can I use E-mail Virus Filtering with other e-mail features like E-mail Forwarding, Spam Blocker, Parental Control, and E-mail Auto Reply?
E-mail that is automatically forwarded to another address with E-mail Forwarding will NOT be screened for junk mail ("Spam") or viruses, and will not have Parental Controls applied to them, even if you have these features turned ON for your e-mail ID. If E-mail Forwarding is ON, ALL incoming e-mail will be forwarded to the address specified, regardless of who sends it, and whether or not it could be "Spam" or contain viruses. Virus filtering has no impact on E-mail Auto Reply. What should I do if I suspect my computer is infected with a virus?
If your computer exhibits unusual behavior or problems an infection by a virus program is just one of the possible causes. If you are using a retail version of Symantec Anti-virus, the best way to determine whether a computer is infected with a virus, is go to the Symantec site and follow the instructions. Where can I get more information on the newest viruses?
For more information on the newest viruses etc. go to Symantec's Anti-virus Center. What can I do to protect my PC from viruses?
Here are some steps you can take:
Viruses are software programs that run on your computer. The actual effect of any particular virus depends on how it was programmed by the person who wrote the virus. Some viruses are deliberately designed to damage files or otherwise interfere with your computer's operation, while others don't do anything but attempt to replicate and spread themselves around. But even the ones that just replicate and spread themselves are harmful, since they may cause other problems in the process of spreading such as overloading network and email platforms. No virus can do physical damage to your computer. That is a virus cannot damage any of your computer hardware such as the CPU hard drive etc. Warnings about viruses that claim they will damage your computer components are usually just hoaxes, not legitimate viruses. However, viruses can damage software by deleting or corrupting files on your hard drive, and may require you to reload some or all of the software on your computer. What is the difference between viruses, worms, and Trojan horses?
A computer virus is a program written to alter the way a computer operates, without the permission or knowledge of the user. When executed a virus will often replicate itself by placing its own code into another program or replacing executable files with a copy of the virus-infected file. Worms are programs that duplicate themselves from system to system without the use of a host file. Where as a virus requires the spreading of an infected host file, worms usually exist inside other files, such as Microsoft Word or Excel documents, there is a difference between how worms and viruses use the host file. Usually a worm releases a document that already has the "worm" macro inside the document. The entire document will travel from computer to computer, so the entire document should be considered the worm. Trojan Horses are impostors. They claim to be something desirable but in fact are malicious. An important distinction between viruses and Trojan horses is that Trojan horses do not replicate themselves, as viruses do. How do I get a virus?
Before the Internet the most common method of becoming infected by a virus was by using an infected disk on your computer. With the Internet, the most common way to become infected is via email. The most popular means of getting a virus from e-mail is by opening an infected file that was sent as an attachment. If you don't open or run an infected file you can't become infected. What is the Anti-Virus feature?
Brightmail's Anti-Virus technology, powered by Symantec(tm), is a comprehensive anti-virus feature that is available for FREE to all members. It detects suspected viruses and cleans them before they ever reach your AT&T Worldnet Service mailbox. If the suspected virus cannot be cleaned, the e-mail attachment containing it is deleted. You are notified via email if:
- a virus is detected and cleaned from the incoming email;
- an incoming email attachment is deleted because the detected virus could not be cleaned.
Yes, the E-mail Virus Filtering feature is available to master account owners as well as on secondary e-mail IDs. How do I enable/disable the Anti-Virus feature?
As an AT&T Worldnet subscriber the E-mail Virus Filtering feature is automatically enabled. However, if you wish to disable the feature here are the steps:
- Go to https://memberservices.att.net/msws/
- Login with your username and password
- Choose "Turn E-mail Virus Filtering OFF"
No. Only software is used to evaluate the body (contents) of e-mail and any e-mail attachments to determine whether or not they contain viruses, so no one will read your e-mails and your privacy will be maintained. Can I use E-mail Virus Filtering with other e-mail features like E-mail Forwarding, Spam Blocker, Parental Control, and E-mail Auto Reply?
E-mail that is automatically forwarded to another address with E-mail Forwarding will NOT be screened for junk mail ("Spam") or viruses, and will not have Parental Controls applied to them, even if you have these features turned ON for your e-mail ID. If E-mail Forwarding is ON, ALL incoming e-mail will be forwarded to the address specified, regardless of who sends it, and whether or not it could be "Spam" or contain viruses. Virus filtering has no impact on E-mail Auto Reply. What should I do if I suspect my computer is infected with a virus?
If your computer exhibits unusual behavior or problems an infection by a virus program is just one of the possible causes. If you are using a retail version of Symantec Anti-virus, the best way to determine whether a computer is infected with a virus, is go to the Symantec site and follow the instructions. Where can I get more information on the newest viruses?
For more information on the newest viruses etc. go to Symantec's Anti-virus Center. What can I do to protect my PC from viruses?
Here are some steps you can take:
- Install anti-virus software from a well-known, reputable company. New viruses come out every day so anti-virus software that has not been updated on a regular basis will not provide protection against current viruses.
- Install an on access scanner (included with most good anti-virus packages) and configure it to start automatically each time your pc is started. This will protect your system by checking for viruses each time your computer accesses executable files.
- Scan any new programs or files that may contain executable code before you run or open them, no matter where they come from.
- Don't open en email attachment if you don't know the sender, or the message text or attachment name seems odd. Be careful about opening binary files and Microsoft Word/Excel documents from unknown sources.
- Do regular backups. Some viruses delete or corrupt files on your hard drive, and a backup may be the only way to recover your data. Ideally, you should back up your entire system on a regular basis. However, if this is not practical at least backup files that would be difficult to replace such as, documents address books important email.
