Someone I know received an e-mail warning that an e-mail with the subject "You've received a Post Card from a Family member" had a virus and was "the most destructive ever" and that it had been "confirmed by Microsoft". The originator was even nice enough to include a link to snopes.com that "confirms" the truth of the subject matter. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to distinguish real virus threats from false ones. Here are a few links that might hopefully provide some level of assistance:
A study-guide on how to detect a virus hoax yourself
Sophos write-up on virus hoaxes
Virus hoaxes as listed by McAfee
Trend Micro Hoax Encyclopedia, alerts
Hoax virus list from vmyths.com
As always, use a little caution (and hopefully) common sense when it comes to e-mails and attachments (or links in e-mails). If you receive an attachment from an unknown sender, it's probably best not to open it. If you receive an attachment (particularly something unexpected) from someone you know, you should still use caution. Perhaps the best choice is to install anti-virus software. For those who are budget-minded, you may want to consider one of several free anti-virus programs (I've listed them in their rating order from this article):
Avira AntiVir® PersonalEdition Classic
avast! 4 Home Edition
Grisoft AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition
For those who might feel that the old adage "You get what you pay for" rings at least somewhat true....
It's too bad that the sky is overcast right now. That makes it difficult to observe the last total lunar eclipse until 2010. I was just out burning one and noticed that the eclipse had started (through a small break in the clouds). Oh well....
Peace, y'all!
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