Does using the Preview Pane in Notes offer any greater protection against emailed viruses/etc. than opening the message?
Or is it best just to keep the Preview Pane closed and delete all questionable email messages (possibly leading to unhappy customers)?
Thank you.
Subject: Preview pane provide protection?
In Lotus Notes we have Execution Control Language.
This means whenever something starts running from our Lotus Notes Client, it checks the ECL settings to see if the person who “signed” routine is allowed /not allowed to do something. If no rule exist, the system will ask.
For MOST virus and worms, the problem isn’t the e-mail, it’s the attached file. Therefore it wouldn’t matter if you opened the e-mail or previewed it, as long as you did NOT open (Autolaunch) the attachment.
However, if was to send embedded Lotus Note code / attach a form with a document you could setup a process to try and automatically install the virus / worm. The trick at this point would be what would the user do when they got the ECL message? Most users I know, when they don’t understand something error on the side of “OK, I will let it do it.”
If that the culture in your work place, then it’s best not to open the e-mail.
Finally, ECL is great if “virus” doesn’t come from a trusted source. If they are a trusted source, them the user may have an ECL rule setup to allow certain actions which may result in the infection of your machine.
Conclusion, if you don’t know what it’s … Delete it.