Okay, technically it’s a trojan horse, not a virus. But you get the idea.)

I’m getting a lot (like, a pair every five minutes — not sure why it’s coming in pairs) of pretty homogeneous, virus-laden email coming in to dm@chrononaut.org this morning. Since it’s only coming in to that address, I think there’s a reasonable chance that some folks out there with that address in their Outlook/Exchange mailboxes or address books have gotten infected. (It seems less likely that an email virus would be combined with a web screen-scraper, but I suppose it’s possible.) So any of you unfortunate enough to be on That Platform may want to do some virus checking.

And if you’re on Windows and you get an email that claims to be a Microsoft security update (with plenty of realistic-looking content in the message itself, including links and phone numbers) with an attached “patch file” or “audio file”, for God’s sake don’t open it.

A sample:

From: "MS Corporation Security Support"
To: "Commercial Customer"
Subject: Latest Net Upgrade

Microsoft Customer

this is the latest version of security update, the "September 2003, Cumulative Patch" update which eliminates all known security vulnerabilities affecting MS Internet Explorer, MS Outlook and MS Outlook Express. Install now to maintain the security of your computer from these vulnerabilities, the most serious of which could allow an attacker to run code on your computer. This update includes the functionality of all previously released patches.

System requirements: Windows 95/98/Me/2000/NT/XP This update applies to:

• MS Internet Explorer, version 4.01 and later
• MS Outlook, version 8.00 and later
• MS Outlook Express, version 4.01 and later

Recommendation: Customers should install the patch at the earliest opportunity.

How to install: Run attached file. Choose Yes on displayed dialog box.

How to use: You don't need to do anything after installing this item.

(Except maybe kiss your sweet ass goodbye.)