Spartan Mail - General Information About Viruses Sent as Email Attachments

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Select a link below to jump to that section:

• What is an e-mail virus?
• What does MSU do to protect my computer from Viruses?
• What should I be looking for?
• What to do if you have been mailed an e-mail virus
• What to do if you think you might have been infected

What is an e-mail virus?

An e-mail virus, or worm, is a virus that spreads through e-mail systems, generally posing as harmless attachments. These can have a variety of effects upon your system. Some viruses open ports on your machine that allow other users to remotely access your computer; others simply spread because they can spread. Viruses also do many other things. For more information on the nature of e-mail viruses and worms, visit http://www.sarc.com/.

Many of the viruses will leave no indication to the user that their computers are infected. If the emails have attachments, opening or running the attachment will often not show any activity to the user while it runs. However, by that time the damage has already been done.

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What does MSU do to protect my computer from Viruses?

MSU has firewalls and scanning software that can catch many viruses before they reach your computer. This cannot, however, protect your computer from everything. You should be running anti-virus software on your computer and avoid opening any suspicious emails as indicated in this article.

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What should I be looking for?

Commonly, viruses will alter e-mail settings to appear to come from a false e-mail address. These addresses usually appear to be from the Administrators of a domain (like MSU, Comcast, Earthlink, etc) and the email states that if you do not download and run the attachment that your account will be disabled. It is important to note that MSU, as well as most legitimate companies, will NEVER send you any attachments you didn't specifically request. If you have any questions as to the validity of a suspicious email, please contact the MSU IT Service Desk at (517) 432-6200.

Many SPAM mailers are often computers that have been infected by a SPAMbot mailer virus. The users of these computers are often unaware that their computers are infected. Some of these SPAM E-mails have attachments that can infect your machine.

If you believe that an e-mail you've received may potentially have a virus, consider the following:

1. Do you know who sent it to you?
   • If not, chances are it could be SPAM and/or a virus.
2. Is there an attachment?
   • If so, what is the extension of the attachment? Extensions to be wary of include, but are not limited to:
     Extensions are what comes at the end of the file name. Example: Word documents have a .doc extension
     • .exe
     • .bat
     • .com
     • Also, Microsoft Office documents (.doc, .xls, etc) can contain macros, which can run when opened and can potentially contain viruses.
3. What does the message say? Even if you have a message appearing to come from someone you know, it may still be a virus. This person may have either an infected computer or checked their mail on an infected computer and the virus is sending mail through their e-mail account. Often, these messages will not make a lot of sense or will say something uncommon of that person. The best way to find out if it is legitimate is to reply to the message and ask if they sent it.

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What to do if you have been mailed an e-mail virus

If you have determined that you have been mailed an e-mail virus, DO NOT open it, but simply delete it from both your Inbox (or whatever folder it is in) and also from the Trash. This way, it cannot be opened and therefore cannot infect your machine.

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What to do if you think you might have been infected

If you believe that you have been infected with a virus contact the MSU IT Service Desk at 517-432-6200 or a professional service.

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