>>>>>When you say opening e-mail...you mean opening the attachment, right?
>>>>
>>>>Yes, it says that in about the second sentence in first paragraph...The hackers will have achieved a major milestone if they can get a virus activated by just opening email message itself, heaven forbid...
>>>
>>>Right. So we don't really need to avoid opening the e-mail. It is opening the attachment. It says "avoid opening email" in the last paragraph.
>>
>>Yes, technically. Actually our LAN says the same thing, they don't even want people opening the email, as a practical matter. You're supposed to call them right away, like you found a bomb or something...
>
>The problem is that with some e-mail programs, the first e-mail that you receive is automatically opened. I could just see people never checking for e-mail until they get a virus program that checks for this macro virus. Also, the fact is that someone could send you an e-mail titled "Anything you want to call it" and attach the infected Word document and if you open the Word document, you are in trouble. So I think people need to be aware that it is the attachment and the opening of the attachment that will cause problems.
>
>Joe

It's important to note that some e-mail programs can be configured to automatically open attachments. In this day and age, that should never be the case, but...
This may be the reason the IS department above doesn't want anyone even opening the message (playing to the lowest common denominator).