Windows XP Virus transmission routes

[R263]

I know this sounds really basic but nobody I spoke to can give me a staight answer.
Forget about the spam issues and thinking only about virus problems.
Can a virus be "caught" by opening/previewing a text only email?
Can a virus be caught by opening/previewing an HTML email?
Can a virus be caught by visiting a web site?

Most people know a virus can be in an attchment but:
Can this be ANY kind of attchement or does it need to be of specific types? eg .doc, .exe etc.
Are any types safe eg .jpg?

Basic questions I know but who knows the answer?

R263

 

[Techy]

(1) Can a virus be "caught" by opening/previewing a text only email?

no

(2) Can a virus be caught by opening/previewing an HTML email?

Yes

(3) Can a virus be caught by visiting a web site?

Yes

Any html document eg, email or webpage can spread viruses this is because if your security settings are set to accepts cookies etc. then the html document can download files to your system, therefore spreading a virus.

what you have to be careful of is obviously the usually executable files, *.exe, *.bat etc, but where an attachment may appear to be a *.jpg or *.bmp etc, although these file extentions are incapable of carrying or spreading viruses it's possible they are part of a double filename extention, for example virus.bmp.exe.

Hope that answers your question.

Reagards

J