The most important thing you can do to protect yourself from computer viruses is to make sure you have up-to-date antivirus software running on your computer. Use this software to scan every file you receive from any source, including friends, family, and co-workers! Cornell provides all students, faculty, and staff with Symantec Anti-Virus (also known as Norton Anti-Virus). Please visit our Norton Anti-Virus page for complete details.

Another important step is to make sure you have downloaded the latest security patches from Microsoft for your version of Windows. If you are responsible for maintaining the security of your computer, check in at http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com at least once a month.

Eudora for Windows, as delivered by Bear Access, is set to be reasonably secure, but it is worth your time to check your settings, and to take extra precautions when it comes to attachments.

Settings

1.  Turn Off the Microsoft Viewer:

Under the Eudora Tools menu, choose Options. In the scroll area on the left, select Viewing Mail. On the right, make sure there is NOT a check mark in the box labeled "Use Microsoft's Viewer." See the screenshot below. (Microsoft's viewer uses Windows Internet Explorer code which has some vulnerabilities.)

2.  Disable the Preview Pane:

Under the Eudora Tools menu, choose Options. In the scroll area on the left, select Viewing Mail. On the right, make sure there is NOT a check mark in the box labeled "Show message preview pane." See the screenshot above.

3.  Disable Executables in HTML:

Under the Eudora Tools menu, choose Options. In the scroll area on the left, select Viewing Mail. On the right, make sure there is NOT a check mark in the box labeled "Allow executables in HTML content." See the screenshot above.

4.  Turn On Warnings:

Under the Eudora Tools menu, choose Options. In the scroll area on the left, select Extra Warnings. On the right, make sure there IS a check mark in the box labeled "Launch a program from a message." See the screen shot below. This will not prevent you from double-clicking on an attached file to launch it, but Eudora will first ask "Are you sure?" to remind you that the file might be dangerous. Before you launch ANY file you receive attached to an e-mail message, you should scan it for viruses.

5.  Change the Name or Location of Your Attachments Folder:

The plain vanilla, commercial version of Eudora puts all incoming attachments in the

C:\Program Files\Qualcomm\Eudora\Attach folder

Some viruses assume that this location is being used. However, the Bear Access version does not use this location by default, so this provides you with some protection. To double-check where your attachments are being stored, under the Eudora Tools menu, choose Options. In the scroll area on the left, select Attachments. In the middle of the area on the right, your attachment directory will be listed. See the screenshot below. Remember, you DON'T want it to be
C:\Program Files\Qualcomm\Eudora\Attach folder

Attachments

Of more concern is the possibility that a virus might travel in a file that's attached to an e-mail message. That's how most of the recent viruses in the news have gotten around. In general, if you aren't sure what a file is, don't open it without checking with the sender. The old warning about only opening files sent by people you know doesn't help, since most of the recent viruses send themselves as messages that seem to come from someone you know.

All attached files received by one of Cornell's newer e-mail servers are automatically scanned for all known viruses using PureMessage. If your full email address includes "postofficeX.mail.cornell.edu" (where "X" is 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10) then your attachments are being checked; some units have their own mail servers; check with your technical support provider if you are unsure.

The two main types of troublesome files are applications or scripts that contain viruses, or documents (especially Word and Excel documents) that contain malicious macros.

If you have turned on the Launch Warning (as listed above), Eudora provides an extra level of protection against applications that might contain malicious code. If you try to open the program, Eudora warns you that you are about to run a program, and asks if you are sure you want to proceed. This makes sure you're aware that you're about to open (and run) a program, and not a document. Only if you are absolutely certain that the program is legitimate should you allow Eudora to launch it directly. A safer approach is to scan it with Norton Antivirus, then open it.

Word and Excel documents are susceptible to macro viruses, which take advantage of Microsoft's macro feature, which allows documents to contain programming scripts. Users who don't use these features in Word and Excel can safely turn them off. Even so, it's a good idea to scan incoming files using your antivirus software to be on the safe side.