Expert: James Filmer - 11/22/2010

Question

Hi,

I have a question about bluetooth and viruses. I am a type of computer user who doesn't open attachments and I do not let anyone insert a flash drive that was attached to another computer to my laptop. But if there's a need for me to open a Word document, I open it in another computer or forward it to my gmail where I can have a preview of the document. If the Word file has a virus, do you think it will still spread even if I simply preview it?

Sometimes, there's a need for me to go to a computer rental to have my Word files printed. What I do is I send it to my email, open the email at the rental, and have them printed. But it's not always an option; sometimes, there's a need for me to save it in a flash drive and insert the flash drive to one of the computers at the internet cafe and there's a high probability that that computer is infected with some sort of virus.

What I'm planning to do is to save the file to my cell phone and transfer it to one of the internet cafe's computers via bluetooth. Since I'm the one transferring a file from my cellphone, will my cellphone be infected during the transfer via bluetooth if the computer is infected? I think there is a possibility because I have established a connection between the two, even though I'm the one transferring the file. What do you think?

Thank you and have a nice day.

Best regards,
John  

Answer
John,

Essentially, no need to worry about your phone.
http://bit.ly/eAxD5D is a comment from a Cisco Tech person.
Just be sure (as you can be) about the person who's sending you the Word doc. If it's something you're expecting or from a reputable source it will not likely be a risk to open.
Sounds like you already understand the risks, but the info here might give you additional info: : http://bit.ly/v3utt

James
PS: I don't respond to private questions here, but there's no private info so changed it to public.