Panix Help System -- Checking your mail for Email Viruses
Over the last few years, there's been a huge increase in the volume
of unsolicited email. It has become a huge problem for users and
providers alike. Additionally, email carrying "malware" (viruses,
worms, trojans) is a problem with serious economic overtones.
Panix provides software to protect users from viruses, and various
methods that allow users to block or filter email that they do
not wish to receive.
Contents
Viruses, Worms, and other Email Evils
These are nasty programs that infect your computer and steal your
resources. While it's possible for a computer to be contaminated
by going to a bad website with insufficient security measures in place,
this page is limited to dealing with viruses (and so on) carried in
email.
Usually they are found in attachments, and most of them exploit
weaknesses in MS Windows (any version) or other Microsoft software,
in part because that software is so widely used.
All users are advised to use anti-virus protection on their computers,
and to keep it up to date. But Panix provides additional virus checking
software that you can use to isolate mail carrying infections.
You can turn on virus checking from webmail or from
procmail.
Even with Panix's virus checking turned on, it's a good idea
to run anti-virus software on your computer and to keep it
up to date.
To turn on virus checking from webmail:
- Log into webmail using
your email address and your usual password.
- Select the Options link at the top of the page.
- On the Options page, select Virus checking.
- Click the "Yes" button at "Check for viruses:"
- Choose what you want to do with mail that is carrying a virus:
- Deliver as usual
- Delete permanently
- Save to mailbox
If you choose "Save to mailbox" you should also
select the folder that you want to use for mail
with viruses. If you want to create a special folder
for virus-carrying mail, you can do that from the
Folders link at the top of the page. Create it,
subscribe to it, and then return to this page to select
it.
If you are not already running procmail, please see our procmail page.
If you are already running procmail, you can turn on virus checking
by adding this line to your .procmailrc file:
INCLUDERC=/net/local/filters/rc.viruscheck
It will put anything caught by the virus checker into your TRASH
folder, however you have that set. (If it isn't set, the mail will
go to your inbox.) Note that you might want to set TRASH
differently for virus checking than for spam checking. More
information on setting procmail variables is available on the
procmail
help page
Note that you have to make sure to add the INCLUDERC line
in the right place. Procmail runs through commands in sequence, and
when you set an INCLUDERC it runs through any commands that
will be included before returning to the .procmailrc file.
If you want to run virus-checking before you run SpamAssassin, you
need to put the
INCLUDERC=/net/local/filters/rc.viruscheck
line ahead of
INCLUDERC=/net/local/filters/rc.spamassassin
in your .procmailrc file.
Note that webmail's virus checking and SpamAssassin run before
procmail does.
webmaster@panix.com
© Copyright 2003, Public Access Networks Corporation
Last modified:
Wednesday, 12-Oct-2005 17:48:12 EDT
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