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Viruses and worms can't get through to the BPN list because all incoming BPN mail is screened for viruses by server software at UC Berkeley.
If you got a virus-laden email that seems to come from BPN, you probably received an email with a spoofed "From" address. Viruses and worms usually forge "From" and "To" addresses on mail they send out. You should always assume that a virus-laden email is not coming from whomever it claims to be coming from.
We do sometimes get notifications from BPN subscribers' email systems saying that a newsletter has been identified as junk mail and will not be delivered to the subscriber. Some email services do this quite regularly, and BPN subscribers sometimes set up spam filters themselves that block BPN newsletters. Please see Junk mail and spam filter settings for more info about this.
When your email address appears on a posting in one of the BPN newsletters, though, such as the Childcare newsletter, it is available to other BPN subscribers. We have never seen a case where a BPN subscriber was collecting addresses to send viruses to. BPN has been around since 1993. Still, we want people to be aware that this is a possibility.
If a BPN subscriber's computer gets infected with a virus, and your email address appears somewhere in a newsletter that is sitting in their mailbox, then there is a risk that a virus could obtain your email address. This is the same risk that you run anytime you send an email to anyone, or when anyone sends you an email. The only way to completely eliminate this risk is to stop using email. For most people, this would be a cure that's worse than the disease. And even this extreme measure will not protect you from viruses that download themselves when you view an infected website. You'd have to stop using the internet altogether. However, in recent years (since 2006) we have seen a dramatic decline in complaints about this happening.
As for spam, the most likely place that spammers get email addresses is from public websites. Some of the postings that appear in the BPN newsletters are archived to our website, which is public. However, if we archive your posting to the website, and you had included your email address in the posting, then we will remove your email address first, as well as your last name and phone number if you included them in your post. In some cases, we do include email addresses on the website for some types of postings such as announcements from tutors, but we add spaces and text so the email addresses are harder to harvest automatically by spammers. Occasionally we overlook an email address when we are archiving, so please let us know at once if you see a complete email address on the website!
In practice, you either have virus protection on your computer or you don't. If you don't have virus protection, then you are always at risk any time you send an email to anyone, and anytime anyone sends you an email, whether it's a newsletter from a big mailing list like the BPN, or work-related mail from your boss, or a joke from your sister in Peoria. Viruses and spam are now just a given when you use email. Not only that, but there are viruses and worms that will download themselves via a web browser when you look at an infected website. The only way to truly reduce your risk is to make sure you are protected. See the next section.
2) Scan your computer for viruses
If your computer is a PC running Microsoft Windows, you
should have virus detection software running daily, scanning every file
for viruses. Viruses often come in to your computer via an attachment on an email, such
as a Word document or a .exe file. But they can also
enter undetected on an email from a friend or, under certain circumstances,
even from a web page you looked at.
Your virus detection software should run nightly
if you leave your computer running all the time.
If you usually power it off after working, then
virus detection software should run every time you start up or shut down.
Your virus detection software should automatically
update itself with info about new viruses, and you
should set it up to do this every day.
3) Avoid using the software that is most often attacked
Microsoft products are the ones that get attacked by viruses.
Occasionally we hear about vulnerabilities in UNIX and Mac but
these two operating systems are far less likely to have problems.
If you are on a PC,
don't use the following software if you have a choice!
4) Keep your Microsoft software updated for patches
Microsoft is constantly creating bug fixes and patches
for vulnerabilities as they become aware of new problems.
Many Windows computers, especially newer ones, will automatically
obtain the patches and bug fixes from the Microsoft website and
install them for you. If
yours doesn't do this automatically, you should do it yourself
on a regular basis. Go to the Microsoft website and
look for "Windows Updates" or "Downloads". Or, click on the Start
menu on your desktop and select Windows Update.
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