virus went thru my address book

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

cyphrbob@penn.com - 11 Dec 2005 23:03 GMT

Recently I had a virus mail harrassing messages to everyone in my
address book. We have outlook 2003 on exchange 2003. Workstation is
windows xp. We have windows updating nightly and trend micro with
nightly updates. Couldnt find anything with the virus scanner. I
thought Outlook was fixed to prevent scripts using the address book.
Is there some way to prevent outgoing emails without some confirming
action on my part?

Reply to this Message

Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook] - 11 Dec 2005 23:38 GMT

Check with your exchange admin to see what security settings have been
changed. Outlook/Exchange are secure by default but a bungling admin can
mess up anything given enough time and curiosity.

Also, how do you know it is "your" address book, and not some one else who
has your email address and is infected? Most (99%) of mails sent as spam
are using a spoofed address.

Signature

Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, cyphrbob@penn.com asked:

| Recently I had a virus mail harrassing messages to everyone in my
| address book. We have outlook 2003 on exchange 2003. Workstation is
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
| Is there some way to prevent outgoing emails without some confirming
| action on my part?

Reply to this Message

cyphrbob@penn.com - 12 Dec 2005 11:57 GMT

Thanks fir the reply. it sent a message to every email address in my
address book. I dont know a lot about Exchange. I'll ask the guy who
set it up to check this out.

>Check with your exchange admin to see what security settings have been
>changed. Outlook/Exchange are secure by default but a bungling admin can
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
>| Is there some way to prevent outgoing emails without some confirming
>| action on my part?

Reply to this Message

Lanwench [MVP - Exchange] - 12 Dec 2005 19:53 GMT

> Thanks fir the reply. it sent a message to every email address in my
> address book. I dont know a lot about Exchange. I'll ask the guy who
> set it up to check this out.

Make sure Outlook/Office/Windows are fully patched - and you aren't using
something like "expressclickyes" are you? The Outlook security model
shouldn't have let this happen. I also question whether your machine was in
fact responsible for this.
Also ask him whether he installed/configured Exchange-aware antivirus
software on the server....it's a must in my book.
And it's a good idea to set up your firewall/router/proxy server so that
only your mail server can make outbound connections on port 25 -
workstations can usually be left with outbound access to TCP ports 80 and
443 and still work just fine for general surfing purposes.

>> Check with your exchange admin to see what security settings have
>> been changed. Outlook/Exchange are secure by default but a bungling
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
>>> Is there some way to prevent outgoing emails without some confirming
>>> action on my part?

Reply to this Message

cyphrbob@penn.com - 12 Dec 2005 23:52 GMT

thanks for the advice. I see by your email address what I could do in
my address book. A little time consuming, just edit the outgoing
address before hitting send. Till I find an answer to how this
occurred i think I will hack the addresss in my contact list so none
will go anywhere without my intervention.

>> Thanks fir the reply. it sent a message to every email address in my
>> address book. I dont know a lot about Exchange. I'll ask the guy who
[quoted text clipped - 35 lines]
>>>> Is there some way to prevent outgoing emails without some confirming
>>>> action on my part?

Reply to this Message

Lanwench [MVP - Exchange] - 13 Dec 2005 04:07 GMT

> thanks for the advice. I see by your email address what I could do in
> my address book. A little time consuming, just edit the outgoing
> address before hitting send. Till I find an answer to how this
> occurred i think I will hack the addresss in my contact list so none
> will go anywhere without my intervention.

Munging all the addresses in one's contacts is not really a viable solution.
Munging your address in a newsgroup post is a good idea if you'd like to
avoid having spam and viruses sent to you (and your address being spoofed
as the sender on virus-laden messages). Don't post valid email addresses in
newsgroups or in your news account settings. Again, if you're using Outlook
2003, I don't see how this could have happened - I suspect it didn't, unless
you're using Expressclickyes or something similar. Your Exchange server
needs good antivirus software to protect all mail, and your workstations can
be blocked from sending mail via port 25 as I suggested.

>>> Thanks fir the reply. it sent a message to every email address in my
>>> address book. I dont know a lot about Exchange. I'll ask the guy who
[quoted text clipped - 36 lines]
>>>>> address book. Is there some way to prevent outgoing emails
>>>>> without some confirming action on my part?

Reply to this Message