Beware of .zip files in email scams, viruses and malware

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These are just two examples of emails we have received recently. Both of them contain Zip files as attachments (files with .zip terminations). If you open them (that is, unzip them), they can, and often do, spread nasties all over your computer. Sometimes they come as part of a scam or con, sometimes they contain viruses and sometimes they are full of malware (short for malicious software: see Wikipedia). The rule is: if you don't know the sender, bin it. In these two cases, the PayPal one doesn't look at all like anything we have ever received from them, except the logo, which is very easy to copy, as is any logo. And we don't have a contract of any kind, nor any connection with Vodafone. COMING SOON: SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION.

Virus attack hits Vista machines, cripples university network

(Sourse: ZDNet / Zack Whittaker) A massive virus attack has hit the University of Exeter resulting in the entire network being shut down both by the virus and the network staff in an attempt to protect the infrastructure. The virus hit the network , which runs Windows Vista, on Monday and is still having major implications even now - two days later. According to an IT support email, “…this is a completely new virus and we are the only organisation in the world to experience it. None of the mainstream virus software suppliers have seen this virus, and as such, there is no fix.” It’s unclear if this virus is entirely unique, but it does highlight the challenges of security.>