The body of the email message is random.

The filing reveals that the Brilliant network is based on a piece of software called "Altnet Secureinstall," which is bundled with the Kazaa software. That technology can connect to other peer-to-peer networks, ad servers or file servers independently of the Kazaa software and can be automatically updated to add new features.

This one hits quite close to home for me since I did development on a secure data transfer program called AltNet a few years ago. The company went belly up when their funding dried up before getting the product released. This product in no way resembles the product I worked on, only the name is the same. Pity they abandoned the trademark.

The problem with this system is that most people do not realize what they are accepting. I have a tough time distinguishing this program from the Trojan programs I have warned about in the past.

If you are willing to accept someone else running a program on YOUR computer, then this program should not bother you. Personally, I think this is a severe security risk. I recommend that you remove this program (and all other adware and spyware programs).

Many of these are acceptable items from known companies like Microsoft and Adobe. Sometimes the program they want to download is spyware, like CometCursor. But these download requests look the same as the Microsoft requests. The natural thing to do is to trust them and say yes, and that is what most people do. I tend to say no and see what happens when I go to their Web page anyway. If in doubt, say NO.

This month there have been reports of this kind of software being downloaded without prompting the user for permission. I have seen evidence that this is real, yet I still consider it to be a rumor. If it is real, I will need to download updates to my protection program when they figure out how to detect it.

In theory, only the site that defined the site can access that cookie. Some holes in the implementation have made these accessible but I will assume that you have followed my suggestions and updated your browser. But someone figured out how to track your activity across the Web without breaking those rules. They do that by updating the cookie from a banner ad or even an invisible GIF file.

The biggest offender with this technology is DoubleClick. I do not think you can do any browsing without picking up a DoubleClick cookie. But that is not news.

The news is that this is now being done through e-mail. Potentially, this allows the cookie tracker to attach your Web browsing habits to your e-mail address. So far I do not believe that they have made such a connection, but they could. Then they could send you e-mail that is geared towards those things you have shown interest in. The result is custom spam.

These e-mail cookies are updated when you read the e-mail. If you are filtering your e-mail before you read it, you may not get hit.

The latest version of Internet Explorer has an ability to block selected cookies. This permits you to have cookies on for the good stuff but off for the bad stuff. I have blocked all of the cookies that the freeware program AdAware (see below) told me about. If I ever find a good list of bad cookies to watch out for, I will print it in this column.

Internet Organizer Pro 2.0 will block selected cookies and kill pop-up boxes. It shows a list of all of the cookies and lets you decide which ones to block. Pop-ups are handled in a similar manner. There are a lot of options to this program. This program even has a capability of blocking CometCursor and similar programs. It requires you to register to use it for more than a month but the registration is free.

MailWasher pulls the headers from your e-mail server before you download the entire message. It compares these against known spammer addresses and lets you delete these messages from your ISP before they ever get to your computer. Today it even flagged a virus. This adds an extra step to getting your e-mail but I like it. This one is free although the author will gladly accept donations to help him continue developing software.

• The first level of protection depends upon you. NEVER open an attachment that you get in your e-mail unless you know what it is. Often these attachments will insert a virus onto your system. It may not be apparent that it is doing harm at this point; it may do its harm much later (when you least expect it). The attachment may even be useful.
• Be aware that viruses will probably come from someone you know who let their system become infected. Many of these viruses spread themselves by sending new messages to everyone in your address book.
• Update your Windows system. There have been lots of security holes found in the various versions of Windows that are possible entry points into your system. Keep your system up to date by running Windows Update. If you deleted the icon, you can just go to the Web site at Windows Update and click the link to get you the product update. It will check your system and tell you which updates are available. Be sure to get at least the security updates.
• Turn off the preview pane in Outlook Express. Most of the viruses require you to do something, but at least one virus has been launched automatically when the message was viewed. Just pointing to the message and previewing the message also launched the virus.
• Delete strange messages. If you suspect a message, delete it before reading it. Spam is pretty easy to detect from the subject and the from: and to: addresses. I do not know how many viruses come in on spam, but why take chances.
• Increase your security settings. If you are using Outlook Express, go to Tools/Options and select the security tab. Set the Internet Explorer security zone to Restricted sites zone. This will protect you from ActiveX functions running from the e-mail. You will get a warning each time an e-mail tries to get through. There is no good reason to allow ActiveX in e-mail. If you use a different e-mail client, search for an equivalent setting.
• Run a firewall. A firewall can hide your system from many intruders. This is even more important if you have a high-speed link, but it is valuable for any system. I recommend the free ZoneAlarm program, although there are lots to choose from. Keep this program up to date for better protection; a flaw was recently found in a different firewall and you need to download the patch to complete your protection.
• Use an anti-virus program. I am not as hardcore about anti-virus programs as others are. I think the above precautions will protect you pretty well. I do not run all the automatic checks that these programs wish to enable. I do a periodic manual check of my systems and always come up clean. I often run a check after something strange happens just to eliminate viruses as a possible cause.
• In case you missed it the first time, DO NOT OPEN ATTACHMENTS. Opening attachments is how most of these viruses get into systems.

Virus writers are very busy these days. The best protection is knowledge. If you know what is happening you can adapt accordingly. This column highlights the new viruses and tells you how to avoid being infected.

Ken Hopkins is a software developer who writes mission critical applications, including security products. If you have comments or suggestions please send them to him at virus@hopkinscomputing.com. If you would like to write this column, let him know and he will help you learn enough to take over.