October 1, 2003 - I have received an e-mail from friends in the Middle East
that a potentially damaging virus is being seen there.

This virus differs from most of the recent ones because it is not just an
nuisance - it actively attempts to DELETE system files from your PC. Folks
who have gotten this virus have ended up with un-bootable PC's.

The subject of this email will relate to "WTC", "World Trade Center", "WTC
Survivor" or in some other way allude to September 11.

If you receive the virus email it will probably appear as if it was sent by
someone you know and trust.

An essential step in preventing this sort of virus from automatically
running is to adjust your mail reader settings so that the Preview does NOT
automatically show in the bottom window when you are examining your INBOX.
If you are using Outlook, select your INBOX and then use the View->Preview
Pane item to turn off the preview pane. If you are using some other mail
program the steps may be different.

If you receive this sort of email, do not open the attachment.

Of course, if you have current anti-virus protection one would hope that it
would catch this sort of thing.

I hope this is a false alarm, but I would rather loose credibility then have
passed up a chance to save some folks heartburn.

Warm regards,

Thomas F. Divine