What's the story on viruses and E-mail?

No computer can get a virus just by reading a plain-text E-mail message or Usenet post. What one has to watch out for are encoded messages containing embeded executable code (i.e., JavaScript in an HTML message) or messages that include an executable file attachment (i.e., an incoded program file or a Word document containing macros).

In order to activate a virus or Trojan horse program, the computer has to execute some type of code. This could be a program attached to an E-mail, a Word document that is downloaded from the Internet or something received on a floppy disk. There is no special hazard in files attached to Usenet posts or E-mail messages, they are no more dangerous than any other file.