Rex,

OK, points well taken. However, many people do not have the option of what software they use. Their employers and or reality of common usage set those parameters. I'd wager that many (most?) users are users and don't really know jpg from bmp from vbs or even care (unfortunately). - they just have work to do. If they see a starling.jpg in explorer & click on it, well it might be more than it appears to be.


 >>>but this is M$'s fault for setting Explorer to hide extensions by default.


I won't argue the pros/cons of Microsoft -we'd probably agree on most points.


>> My solution is to use Linux with Mutt as a MUA; no trojan/virus/worm concerns and without the necessity to update antivirus software.

Obviously you are not the common user. Most would have no idea what you are talking about. Be careful as Linux viruses exist and are in the wild. (given what you've indicated, you are probably aware of that and have some in your zoo)

My original intent was to make note for those that might not be aware that solid virus protection goes beyond blocking size and extension types. It is always a good discussion and enlightening when other operating systems and approaches are brought up.

Enjoy the day,
Doug



Doug Wheeler
Sr. Technical Analyst - Information Resources
Neenah Technical Center
Georgia-Pacific Corporation
email : mailto:[log in to unmask]
voice : 920.729.8178 fax : 920.729.8164




-----Original Message-----
From: rex [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, August 05, 2002 2:37 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Limiting types of images - another try


On Mon, 05 Aug 2002 at 03:06:47PM -0400, Wheeler, Doug (NTC) wrote:
> Rex,
> Good point and generally this is true, but we are talking viruses.

It's always true. Files with a .jpg extension are not executable and
pose no viral threat regardless of content.


Right,



My solution is to use Linux with Mutt as a MUA; no trojan/virus/worm concerns
and without the necessity to update antivirus software.

Many (most?) listowners do not have the option to scan messages before they
are posted to a list.

I attempt to protect those who insist on using broken software by not
allowing attachments and setting a short maximum message length.
Luckily, most malware is fairly big these days. Not so in the past:
I've got a virus in my zoo of ~5000 that is less than 30 bytes long.

Regards,

-rex