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Earthlink, my ISP, filtered out at least 12 spam messages containing Windows viruses just over the holiday weekend!

Thank the Gods I own Macs!

The BBC seem to be a bit more accurate when reporting on virus outbreaks. I was sick of them not being specific about just what computers are affected by viruses. Their response was pathetic: we have to cover these stories because 95% of people using their site are on Windows. So I called the editor and said a) your response didn't answer my query, and b) if 95% of your readers are on PC's you are doing the 5% who aren't a disservice by not making it plain that these are Windows viruses.

Now it appears they repeatedly state that these are 'Windows Viruses' and they can only affect Microsoft Windows.

Yep - I was just notified by my automated ISP account manager that three of these things have been detected and removed from my email accounts on the server side.

Here's a question: If I'm running Windows under OS X, and I retrieve my mail, is my computer infected?

Wouldn't it be easier to just call them Microsoft Virus PCs? Any day now I expect Gates to bust out laughing during a press conference squealing, "Oh man are you people stupid! Now, please excuse me while the family and I go for a money pit swim."

Where do you want to get infected today?

Mr. Peabody: (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;828574)

When you run a virtual machine in Virtual PC for Mac, the operating system that is installed on the virtual machine may be vulnerable to attacks by Windows-based viruses if the virtual machine is configured to connect to the Internet directly through Virtual Switch networking. In Virtual Switch networking mode, the Windows operating system directly connects to the Internet. As a result, it may be vulnerable to attacks from Windows-based viruses and other malicious programs.

If the Windows operating system is connecting to the Internet by using Shared Networking, it is in fact connecting through the Macintosh operating system and the Macintosh networking connections. This type of connection can help protect your operating system from network-based virus attacks.

However, your computer may still be vulnerable to virus attacks through e-mail messages. Microsoft recommends that you use an antivirus program to scan all your incoming e-mail messages.

Mr. Peabody,

If you use an email program in windows (like Outlook Express) than the Windows installed under virtual PC can become infected.

I don't know if your windows install can become infected if you are opening email with a Mac email program.

Wake me up when the Hasta La Vista virus starts circulating. But this is what gets me:

...and not to click on attachments to unsolicited e-mail messages.

Unsolicited messages don't even get to my machine.

Instead of trying to screw up digital music with 'universal and non-proprietary' digiplayer connectors, why don't you fix your stinking OS? I wonder how long it will be before x-Box 360 users will have to install Anti-Virus software for their new consoles.

Opening an e-mail that contains a Windows specific virus attachment while using Mail on a Mac that is running VPC (or has VPC installed but not actually running) may well infect the VPC environment.

If I click on an attached file (.xls or .doc) it automatically launches in Excel or Word as appropriate. If your system maps these files by suffix to the VPC environment, I would expect them to launch VPC and do the nasty that they are designed to do.

Lada is to BMW as Windows is to Mac OS X

When VPC is shut down, one of the options is to revert to the disk image used at the launch of your session. If a virus gets into a virtual OS and you trash any changes from that session, you are O.K. Otherwise , most VPC Mac clients have no need for AV software.

I as wondering when someone was going to report on this. I have literally gotten 20 of these viruses per day in one of my email accounts. It is absolutely ridiculous.

Why are people so stupid that they open attachments from people they don't know????

There's a new Spyware Infection going around that uses a Rootkit style infiltration of an XP machine. We have noticed a lot of used on our ISP getting Error 797 messages, saying their modem can't be found, but when we look in their Device Manager, the entire window is blank. We used F-Secure's Blacklight Rootkit scanning tool, and removed a couple Rootkits from each machine, but there are also HIDDEN Registry Values that have to be removed. After that, the Device Manager would finally come back, but the modem problems still don't end there. You also have to scan the entire system for Spyware and Adware and remove it. The rootkit is not detectable by any normal scanning method, and it is not related to the Sony Rootkit debacle, as far as we can tell. One computer was so badly messed up, the only choice on it is to format and reinstall the original system software.

Thank god (and Jobs) for my Macs.

This isn't news. What would be real news is if there wasn't a virus affecting Windows.

I agree with bikersrule. It would be real groundbreaking news if all of a sudden all windows viruses disappeared.