Computer Tips (not ff)

[nighthawk]

I no longer,open "Fwds", (forwarded from someone else), even from people I know and trust. I delete them, before even opening them, because I've had to fight two, very, very expensive viruses that were embedded in emails from very close friends.
THEY had no idea, they'd sent me an infected email and it wasn't their fault the virus was in their mail.
What a lot of people don't realize, is that when an email's been "forwarded" to another person................. let's say, from Nighthawk's house to mine, it can easily be "intercepted" by a hacker maybe located in Russia or China, wherever, a virus is then attached to it, then it's on its way to me, with neither Nighthawk, or I, being the wiser! The hackers do not need passwords, from the sender or the receiver of the email, only the "IPS address", which is easy to locate for anyone's computer.
People get upset with me, because when they write and ask "Hey! How'd ya' like my joke, I sent you? or, "funny pictures", whatever and I tell them "Sorry, I didn't see/read it, I delete all forwards without opening them". But, I've also told friends, to, please not send me forwards, that I DON'T open them, then they do anyway!!
It's not worth the damage it can cause, been there, done that TWICE.

Paul,
You are right about that. Great advice! One of the better things that the Federal Government does for it's employees is the internet security training. That is one of the "do Not do" items they train us about. Thank you for the advice!

Folks, here is a web site I strongly encourage you to use:

http://www.us-cert.gov/

It is the Dept. of Homeland Security web page on internet security. A great resource that you and I have paid for.