In my guise as an IT professional, I agree that anti-virus software is no guarantee against infection, but it is, sadly, necessary. I only started using Norton a couple of months ago because I was receiving infected mail quite regularly - which I was able to recognise and delete safely - but realised it is only a matter of time before the worst happens.

I have never had a virus or worm on my system, but know dozens who have, many of whom I have had to disinfect...

Vigilance, such as has been suggested by others above, is the first line of defence, and mailing lists are most likely to propagate such malicious software.

As a member of a Morris side which needs to use a mailing list, I decided to use eGroups, which was later taken over by Yahoo. Such groups are less likely to cause the spread of email-borne viruses, as the providers screen such emails for viruses for their own protection, as the messages are retained on their servers for some considerable period.

Such groups can be set up for the use of members only, which significantly cuts down the risk of spam - the group server returns such unwanted matter to the sender, or deletes undisclosed senders' messages.

Unfortunately, viruses and worms are like car thieves - if they want to do their worst, you cannot stop them... just try to make it as difficult as possible for them!!

TTFN
B

Today I saw a little worm
A-wriggling on his belly
P'raps he'd like to come inside
And see what's on the telly?!

Spike Milligan