viruses emails, should I forward them to abuse?

Killer · 22 Jul 2004, 09:09 PM

I have been recieving some viruses emails. When I check on the headers, they were sent from a local ISP. I know such mails wasn't sent by a real person. But the person's network should be informed to clean up his mess. Do we send such mails to abuse@offending_ISP or just del them?

a_a · 23 Jul 2004, 12:36 AM

i personally don't open email recipients i don't recognize.
with so many spam or virus variants an email that is detected as a threat is sometimes too late, potentially even before you open the attachment.
their objective is you click on it.
i would normally hover over the name or address and see if it's legitimate before opening.

if your OS is acting strange then it might be too late.
just my expereince.

neilj · 23 Jul 2004, 12:59 AM

a_a, I don't think you quite understood the question...

Killer, if you think the ISP might take the effort to find the user(s) with the infected machines and inform them so they can take action then I would certainly email them, although I don't think they'd appreciate it if you sent them the virus infected attachment with it! Maybe just paste the full headers in a new email and send it with a bit of info to the ISP and then just delete all the subsequent virus-infected emails.

Neil

robert@fm · 23 Jul 2004, 04:55 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by a_a
i personally don't open email recipients i don't recognize.
with so many spam or virus variants an email that is detected as a threat is sometimes too late, potentially even before you open the attachment.
their objective is you click on it.
i would normally hover over the name or address and see if it's legitimate before opening.

That's why I don't use Outlook or Outlook Execrable, never have "preview" mode enabled, and have all my clients (real and webmail) set to view plain-text only; let's see a virus slip past those settings.

Killer · 23 Jul 2004, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by a_a
i personally don't open email recipients i don't recognize.
with so many spam or virus variants an email that is detected as a threat is sometimes too late, potentially even before you open the attachment.
their objective is you click on it.
i would normally hover over the name or address and see if it's legitimate before opening.

if your OS is acting strange then it might be too late.
just my expereince.

You don't get my question. I am not refering to spams but viruses email. I have anti virus that removes the offending attachments anyway and I don't click on attachments.

SusanUKF · 23 Jul 2004, 09:09 AM

I always just immediately delete such things myself Killer.

Killer · 23 Jul 2004, 11:15 AM

I think the local ISP should take action against their infected users since their network was involved in sending such mails out.

milgram · 27 Jul 2004, 03:44 AM

With Viruses and spam, the return email address is usually forged. Better mail servers record the IP address of the sending host. Based on the IP address, you should be able to find the ISP.

Killer · 27 Jul 2004, 08:59 AM

Yes. Which is from there I found the viruses came from a local network. It is easier to complain to a local ISP.

SusanUKF · 27 Jul 2004, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Killer
Yes. Which is from there I found the viruses came from a local network. It is easier to complain to a local ISP.

Do they then trace it to specific computeers that it came from, or where do they proceed to from there Killer??

Susan.

Killer · 27 Jul 2004, 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by SusanUKF
Do they then trace it to specific computeers that it came from, or where do they proceed to from there Killer??

Susan.

Yes, they would trace to the person or company that uses their network and "take action".

SusanUKF · 27 Jul 2004, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Killer
Yes, they would trace to the person or company that uses their network and "take action".

Well, I hope that they catch the perpetrator of the crime Killer!!

Susan.

Killer · 27 Jul 2004, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by SusanUKF
Well, I hope that they catch the perpetrator of the crime Killer!!

Susan.

I don't think it is a crime to have your PC infected by virus. But complain to ISP will let them know one of their user got viruses and need to buy new anti virus since their existing ones are useless.

SusanUKF · 27 Jul 2004, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Killer
I don't think it is a crime to have your PC infected by virus. But complain to ISP will let them know one of their user got viruses and need to buy new anti virus since their existing ones are useless.

Okay Killer, I thought you meant that these people were being criminal and sending out viruses on purpose, trying to infect people, which would have been really bad!!

Susan.

Killer · 27 Jul 2004, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by SusanUKF
Okay Killer, I thought you meant that these people were being criminal and sending out viruses on purpose, trying to infect people, which would have been really bad!!

Susan.

Nope. Criminals send out Trojans. Viruses are send out from unsuspecting computers to generate mass amount of traffics to jam up the network.

22 Jul 2004, 09:09 PM	#1
Killer Intergalactic Postmaster Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Singapore Posts: 6,762 Representative of: Killer.kkk.sg	viruses emails, should I forward them to abuse? I have been recieving some viruses emails. When I check on the headers, they were sent from a local ISP. I know such mails wasn't sent by a real person. But the person's network should be informed to clean up his mess. Do we send such mails to abuse@offending_ISP or just del them?

27 Jul 2004, 03:44 AM	#8
milgram Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 138	Only if you can find out the real ISP With Viruses and spam, the return email address is usually forged. Better mail servers record the IP address of the sending host. Based on the IP address, you should be able to find the ISP.

23 Jul 2004, 12:36 AM	#2
a_a Essential Contributor Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: mississauga, ON CANADA Posts: 263	i personally don't open email recipients i don't recognize. with so many spam or virus variants an email that is detected as a threat is sometimes too late, potentially even before you open the attachment. their objective is you click on it. i would normally hover over the name or address and see if it's legitimate before opening. if your OS is acting strange then it might be too late. just my expereince.

23 Jul 2004, 12:59 AM	#3
neilj Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Melbourne Posts: 971 Representative of: Fastmail.fm	a_a, I don't think you quite understood the question... Killer, if you think the ISP might take the effort to find the user(s) with the infected machines and inform them so they can take action then I would certainly email them, although I don't think they'd appreciate it if you sent them the virus infected attachment with it! Maybe just paste the full headers in a new email and send it with a bit of info to the ISP and then just delete all the subsequent virus-infected emails. Neil

23 Jul 2004, 09:09 AM	#6
SusanUKF Intergalactic Postmaster Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Canada Posts: 5,428	I always just immediately delete such things myself Killer.

23 Jul 2004, 11:15 AM	#7
Killer Intergalactic Postmaster Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Singapore Posts: 6,762 Representative of: Killer.kkk.sg	I think the local ISP should take action against their infected users since their network was involved in sending such mails out.

27 Jul 2004, 08:59 AM	#9
Killer Intergalactic Postmaster Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Singapore Posts: 6,762 Representative of: Killer.kkk.sg	Yes. Which is from there I found the viruses came from a local network. It is easier to complain to a local ISP.