I never pass on this kind of message, with its alleged references, without checking those sources (and others) myself. Most of the time the message is bogus, or at least very old.
THERE IS AN ELEMENT OF TRUTH IN THIS ONE.If you'd like to read a bit about this from a generally reliable source, look at
Postcard at Snopes.com. What's that? You're suspicious of the link I gave you? Good! You're learning! OK, go to Snopes dot com and search for "postcard". Better yet, google "postcard virus".
The true part of the message is that email attachments and links should be treated with suspicion, even when they appear to be from friends. It's also true that malware can be delivered when you open these attachments or links. I
never open unexpected attachments without checking with the alleged sender.
NOT TRUE: "This is the worst virus announced by CNN. It has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever. This virus was discovered by McAfee yesterday, and there is no repair yet for this kind of virus. ": This is not true, especially the claim that it was discovered yesterday. The "postcard" angle has been around for years.
It's good to be cautious. It's dumb to panic. And it's somewhat safer to be running Linux or Mac OS.
Ned
