Empty message body

[SoftWore]

Hello,
I get almost daily messages with information for only the sender address (@ world.std.com ou@worcestericats.com and again today @ optonline.com). There is no subject or message body or attachment. I thought a virus or worm spreads from opening or previewing the message, but by the scan of my PC there is nothing. Someone knows what it is? Thank you.

[Macarenas]

Hello
I can not answer precisely your question, but the golden rule in case you do not know the sender is to transfer the message without reported souls. Generally this kind of message is spam (unsolicited commercial ) or the vector of malware. Warning: The virus does not detect ad-ware, spy-ware or Trojans that can be attached to pieces .

[chroma]

Hello
There are two types of malware:
-those who exploit loopholes.
-those who exploit the user.

Those that can receive attachments in its usually the second category, they have nothing special to execute their code is like a normal software what.

Those in the first category are more exotic, they usually exploiting buffer overflows in various bookstores (so they are flaws, corrected fairly quickly). This is by far the most dangerous . To pick up a virus in an email by opening it directly should be a critical flaw, so I would say that it is possible two or three days in the year on a maxi system patched.

[SoftWore]

Hi,
Yes, is precisely why I worry a few of these messages. Unlike the majority of their spread by email, they are not activated by opening an attachment. They exploit a known vulnerability in Internet Explorer to automatically download the malicious program from a computer already infected. In other words, it is not necessary to open an attachment to be contaminated. Just open the mail or preview it with Microsoft Outlook. Once installed, the worm disables antivirus and firewall programs, making the PC vulnerable to attacks by hackers.

[Raine]

Hello,
All vulnerabilities known Outlook Express to infection by simple visualization of the message are, as far as I know, corrected. One can therefore consider that this case is ancient history, until the next fault. Anyway there is a simple way to avoid this hypothetical, go to Tools, Options, Read, and select the Read all messages in plain text. Sometimes this configuration with some poorly designed messages in HTML are not displayed. To see the entire contents of a message (including things not shown), again with Outlook Express, do Ctrl-F3.

[chroma]

Hello,
Regarding the firewall there are several reasons for this:
- the most common faults do not affect demons (for the average user, and with notable exceptions), but customers. If a firewall blocks incoming connections, it will only hinder the operation (and there are treasures of ingenuity in this area).
- The firewall "outgoing" generally leave every move (eg if IE is vulnerable, it is this process which will execute the code)
In short when attacked by a hacker, the firewall is not used much.
The message I wanted to convey is that we must try to understand about the scope of viruses, firewalls, hackers, etc.. rather than to brandish as magical talismans ... (this has nothing to anyone here, but I prefer to explain that way rather than saying "this is important" or "it's dangerous")