The Security Mentor

Whose fault is it when a worm spreads?

The nerds on Slashdot were discussing this recently. Is it the user's fault for opening an email attachment? I argued that it isn't.

In plain language, my argument is that people are already kind of careful about what attachments they open. Worms are only spreading by trickery. They pretend to come from someone the victim knows. They pretend to be documents instead of programs. And let's face it -- how many people could do their jobs without receiving documents in email from people they know?

What you can do to protect yourself is

• Only open attachments that you're actually expecting.
  
• Virus-scan the attachment before you open it.
  
• Consider switching email programs. Microsoft keeps gradually making Outlook and Outlook Express safer to use. Some competing mail programs display the type of a file more reliably so you're less likely to get fooled. I especially recommend a free(!) one called Thunderbird.