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Hi Mat,
Now that you've managed to do this, I'll take the opportunity to tell
you that I think such "certifications" are useless at best, and
dangerous at worst.
Useless because:
Anyone who knows anything about protecting their computer from viruses
and such will ignore such "certified virus-free" and/or "checked by x
AV..." tags.
Dangerous because:
These "certifications" offer a completely false sense of security for
the less than savvy user. Even some virus laden messages have such
"AV certification" messages tagged onto the messages; it's just a bit
of social engineering meant to fool the gullible into believing that
the message and any attachment that comes with it is safe for the
clicking.
Anyone who would rely on such AV tags on incoming email is a fool;
even if they were included by the sender with the best of intentions.
The only way to really protect one's computer is to rely on one's own
knowledge about potential threats, and one's own comprehensive
security strategy that comes from such knowledge. Amongst many other
things to think about, it is a very good idea to completely ignore
any such "AV certification" type messages that may be appended to a
message; even when they are completely "legitimate". Of course, for
the reasons stated above, I don't consider any such thing to be
legitimate. At best (and this is a relative term), they represent an
opportunity for a bit of free advertising for the AV developer in
question.
- --
Melissa
