I recieved this e-mail today. it has an attachment(qpoys.exe)that is supposed to be a security update from microsoft called "current security upgrade" I ran a windows update and came up with nothing . Do you think this is a virus?

Hi gserve, Without a doubt - - Microsoft does not email security info to anyone..... TrashCan any unknown email. lucky1

Yep,it is definitely a virus. MS does not send security updates by email. The name of the virus is Swen. Removal: Most antivirus software companies have updated their signature files to include this virus. This will stop the infection upon contact and in some cases will remove an active infection from your system. For more information, see Central Command, Computer Associates, F-Secure, McAfee, Norman, Sophos, Symantec, and Trend Micro.

You can find a removal tool for this virus at: http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.swen.a@mm.removal.tool.html

It would be beyond belief that MS would email everyone in the world or even consider maintaining such a database. The best approach to anything like this is to think about it. Derek

Sorry if my #4 might have seemed a bit rude, NOT intended! Let's try again. I think the best approach is to regard all messages with attachments as potential unexploded bombs. I do this: Never use OE Preview. Right click suspicious messages and hit "Message Source". You can then read the message and make a judgement. Under "Content Disposition" the name of the attachment is displayed. If it's extension is .scr .pdf .exe .bat (and probably others I've forgotten) then it is a program, so probably a virus. Remember that even a known source can be unwittingly sending a virus. Look for mention of an attachment in these cases. When reading the message assume that the sender will be trying anything to get you to run the attachment. Yeah, Microsoft is a neat try but so are many others. Derek

Of course I did not open the attachment. But the email looked pretty official with all the microsoft logo etc. Thanks for the replies.