Mike,

I use OE as my email and newsgroup client. I turned off viewing HTML email in general to keep the few spams that do make it through the Brightmail spam filtering that AT&T uses from being able to send back identifying requests for images or whatever indicating that the spam made it through. I routinely cull domains out of the attachments and add them to my HOSTS file.

I do appreciate rich format email though for some things. Newsletters really do call for it. I have to peroidically toggle the plain/html flag though because one of the online bills I get emailed doesn't contain a plain text link to the website. I should really send them an email to complain about this *g* It would be nice if OE supported an HTML email ok list where I could put a few select sources in the list.

Hackers need a deployment method. Currently email is viable for them. There is no way to get vast numbers of people to hit an web page to deploy an infection. If everyone in the world was interconnected on IRC that's what they'd exploit.

>Presumably this is the reason the Red Hat CEO is telling people to use Windows instead of Red Hat for home use.
>
>I think the problem with viruses has alot to do with the industries perversion of email. HTML Messages and scripts, ect. Has anyone considered just blocking emails with attachments at the server level?
>
>There are other mechanisms capable of passing attachments around than email. If email went back to text only, which would suffice for 99% of all uses, 99% of all the current viruses related issues would go away.