Hello, Are Vicki's "webrings" the same thing as mailing-lists(like this one, ENG-LOST-CONNECTIONS) ? If they're not then please ignore the rest of this message. If they are, then I don't think she can be correct. The virus concerned spreads itself by seeking out unread messages on someone's computer. If it finds one, it somehow uses it to access the person's address book, then sends a message to everyone in the address book. These messages copy the subject and original message of the unread message (or maybe some other message in a thread - I'm not sure). Before it come words like "David Lamb wrote: ", and after it, "Take a look at the attachment" with nothing to tell you what the attachment is. A message like this cannot appear directly on a Rootsweb mailing list, which, if a message is sent with an attachment, strips it first. I suppose that if like me you subscribe to Rootsweb lists in digest mode, all the messages appear as what look like attachments under a blank message pane, but they are nothing like the attachments which contain the virus. I hope someone with more technical knowledge will correct me if I am wrong on this, but as I understand it, we don't need to unsubscribe from the lists. What we should do is to make sure we read or delete messages as soon as we get them, or at least before we connect to the net again, so the virus won't be able to find any unread message to latch on to. Also, if we receive an attachment which we are not totally sure about, then we should delete it immediately. Of course we should have good up-to-date anti virus protection, but from what I've read, even some of the latest programs are not catching this one. Regards. David Lamb, Devon, England Interests: Essex: BAXTER, BERRY, DODSON, GOLDSTONE, LAMB, NEWMAN, PARTRIDGE, SARGENT, WEBB, WILLSHER Suffolk: BRINGLOVE or BRYNGLOVE, FINCH, PARTRIDGE Sussex: RALPH Norfolk: DODSON -----Original Message----- From: Vicki Cooper <raev@paradise.net.nz> To: ENG-LOST-CONNECTIONS-L@rootsweb.com <ENG-LOST-CONNECTIONS-L@rootsweb.com> Date: 20 April 2001 10:10 Subject: [UK Genealogy] Re: All email queries to webrings are attachments! >Hi Listers. Re virus warnings; >Its no use telling people not to open any attachments unless they know not >to open any subject headings on their lists; which of course are attachments >in themselves; and could well be bugged without them knowing. > >The gene webs are being deliberately targeted. > >It is best to stay off the lists for a few days. Just delete them and hope >the answers come up again later. >Better than losing all your databases. > >Good luck >Vicki >