Do People Really Still Do This?

The FBI, an a major switch from their normal modus operandi, actually tried to disseminate some useful information to the public this week. It turns out that there's yet another virus infected e-mail making the rounds - this time supposedly sent by the FBI.

The FBI late Tuesday warned computer users that scam artists pretending to be FBI agents are at work spreading the computer virus.

"These e-mails did not come from the FBI," the Bureau said in a statement released from its Washington headquarters.

"The FBI does not engage in the practice of sending unsolicited e-mails to the public in this manner."

The warning to the public was prompted by an ongoing mass e-mail in which computer users receive unsolicited e-mails purportedly sent by the FBI.

I have to ask.. does anyone really open attachments from unknown and/or unrequested sources? I haven't opened an attachment in ages unless it comes from friends, known associates or business interests where I have requested something which would be sent by attachment.

Further, there is rarely an attachment of that sort which even makes it through. All of the work related attachments I receive come via my customer's intranet, not the internet, and their virus protection and firewalls are very efficient. I also use a personal firewall, my e-mail company scans all incoming attachments for virus threats. On top of that, I run Norton on all of my machines, with daily virus profile updates, and it scans all attachments as they arrive.

Knock on wood very heavily, but I haven't been hit with anything like that in years. So, I ask again... are people still really opening unexpected attachments and using home computers with no protection? Perhaps I live in some sort of rarefied technological atmosphere, but it boggles my mind to think people are still doing this.