Be cautious when handling e-mail messages with attachments

WSU's e-mail system cleans over 85,000 e-mail messages every day, eliminating viruses and worms, and flagging others as junk mail. Despite this effort, new viruses and worms can get past the e-mail system filters.

E-mail attachments are a convenient and popular way for attackers to send viruses and worms. If you receive an e-mail message with an attachment from a person you don't know, do NOT open the attachment. If you are unsure, you can always delay opening an attachment until you've had more time to check it out.

There are two things you can do to stop viruses and worms from attacking your computer and harming the WSU network:

  1. Be cautious when handling e-mail messages with attachments. The following steps can help you decide what to do with e-mail messages and attachments that you receive. Don't open the attachment unless the message passes the test:
    1. Is the e-mail from someone you know?
    2. Have you received e-mail from this person before?
    3. Were you expecting e-mail with an attachment from this person?
    4. Does this message make sense?
      • For example, would you expect the sender—let's say your Mother—to send you an e-mail message with the Subject line "Here you have, ;o)" that contains the attachment "AnnaKournikova.jpg.vbs"?
      • A message like that probably doesn't make sense. In fact, it happens to be an instance of the Anna Kournikova worm. If you opened the attachment, you would damage your system.
  2. Use Symantec AntiVirus on both your WSU office and home desktop computers.  You can download Symantec Software from C&IT Software Clearinghouse. After you install it, use Symantec's LiveUpdate for Mac or Windows to keep your virus definitions up to date.

If you need assistance, contact your local technical support staff or the C&IT Help Desk by e-mail helpdesk@wayne.edu or phone 313-577-4778.