Survival In An Online World, part II

If you are going to be using Outlook Express, there is a setting that you should make sure is turned on. In Tools->Options, select the security tab and make sure the "Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened that could potentially be a virus" check box is checked. This will prevent Outlook from automatically opening attachments. I personally recommend using Thunderbird. Thunderbird doesn't automatically open attachments. It doesn't have VB scripting, which is another concern with Outlook. Thunderbird does have built-in spam blocking, or as it is called in the program, junk email. You have to teach it to recognize junk, but after it learns for a while it is fairly accurate. The other advantage of using Thunderbird is that in the unlikely event you do get a virus or trojan or worm, most attack the address book in Outlook in order to send out copies of itself to everyone in your address book. If you don't use it, it has nothing to send to.

In part III, we'll discuss anti-spyware software.

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