Viruses, Worms, Trojan Horses and Malicious Scripts

Hoaxes

Before e-mailing any virus warnings to your relatives and friends always first check the following list:

Hoaxes (Symantec Anti-Virus Research Center)

Before e-mailing other urgent warnings or stories always first check the following web site:

You may find that the latest "hot scoop" has been circulating on the Internet for years.

How we protect you

All of our e-mail messages, both incoming and outgoing, are automatically individually scanned by anti-virus software. This protects our computer from being infected and prevents passing any infections to you.

Our anti-virus software and virus definitions are automatically checked for updates on a daily basis to make sure we catch any new viruses as soon as they are developed.

Our CUBA-L mailing list (as all other Rootsweb mailing lists) does not distribute any attachments or messages which are in other than plain text, such as html (web page language). This prevents distribution of any viruses or malicious scripts through the list. Please note that there are many other genealogy lists, not hosted by Rootsweb, that do not strip off attachments and can be a conduit for virus infections.

Please DO NOT send any virus warnings through the CUBA-L list - it is against Rootsweb policy and list rules. If you suspect a virus in a list message please contact the list administrator directly. It is almost certain that the message was NOT distributed by the list even though the words "[CUBA-L]" might appear in the subject line.

We do not use Microsoft Outlook as a mail client. Because of its popularity, many virus attacks are targeted to this particular software. If you do use Outlook, be sure to frequently check for security updates available to download from Microsoft.

How to protect yourself

Install Anti-Virus software on your computer - and keep it updated! New viruses are being developed daily and you must keep the software up to date in order to be effective. If your software has an automatic update feature be sure to enable it. Make sure your anti-virus software is enabled to scan all incoming e-mails.

Do periodic backups of your hard disks at least once weekly. That way, if a malicious worm wipes out your entire drive you will be able to recover.

NEVER double-click on an e-mail attachment to open it. Instead, right click the attachment once and save it on the desktop. This gives the anti-virus software a chance to examine the contents of the attachment.

Do not automatically believe that the message is OK because you recognize the source. Several recent viruses steal addresses from the "in basket" of the infected computer and use those addresses to make you believe that messages are coming from people you know.

If you can identify the sender of the infected message, be sure to inform them that their computer is infected. Sometimes the virus will corrupt the sender's address (for example by adding a dash in front) to prevent you from doing this. You need to fix up the address before you will be able to successfully send a reply.

If you become infected

If your computer is still operational, visit the major anti-virus sites, review the characteristics of the virus and download the removal tool specific for that virus. The major anti-virus software manufacturers (see below) all provide these tools free of charge. Run the tool on your computer to remove the virus.

Update your anti-virus software (in some cases you may have to reinstall it first), and virus definitions. Then run a full scan on your computer to be sure there is nothing left of this or any other viruses.

Computer Viruses, Worms, Trojan Horses and Malicious Scripts

There are bad people out there - protect yourself!

Latest Alerts

Hoaxes

How we protect you

How to protect yourself

If you become infected

Recommended Internet Security Software

Virus Information Sites