Protect Yourself: Computer Viruses

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Viruses, worms, Trojan horses, malware and spyware are human-made software programs created specifically to wreak mischief on personal computers and networks. The chance of contracting one of these malicious programs over the Internet has increased dramatically. Unless you exercise great caution or routinely run anti-virus software, your computer will almost certainly become infected. Typically, you get a virus by opening infected e-mail attachments or downloading and installing infected software. Some viruses are relatively harmless to individuals. They just attach themselves to outgoing messages and e-mail themselves to all the contacts listed in your address book. The sudden flood of e-mail overwhelms mail servers, causing the system to crash. Other viruses are more destructive and may lie dormant until a certain date. Then they spring to life to do their dirty deeds. Sometimes a strange message appears on your screen, or data and programs may be modified. In the worst case, all the files on your hard drive may be wiped out. These pernicious programs start on one computer, then replicate quickly, infecting other computers around the world. In 1988 a student at Cornell University sent out a virus out by accident, infecting more than 6,000 computers in minutes, nearly bringing the Internet to its knees. More recently, the "I Love You" virus caused over $1 billion in lost productivity as it crippled e-mail systems worldwide. Warning Signs of Virus Infection Your computer starts running sluggishly. It shuts down unexpectedly or crashes frequently. It experiences memory problems or runs out of disc space. Unusual files or directories appear on your system. Strange messages appear on your screen. TRY THIS... Track recent global virus attacks. Inoculate Your Computer If you download and run software from the Internet or receive e-mail attachments, protect yourself by using anti-virus programs to scan attachments and downloaded programs to alert you of infection. The software also scans your hard drive periodically, searching for rogue viruses and deleting them. The two most popular programs are from McAfee.com and Symantec. You can purchase and download the software from their websites. Both offer regular updates to handle newly discovered viruses. For the latest information on specific computer viruses, visit the Symantec Threat Explorer. Virus Prevention Guidelines Make sure your computer runs anti-virus software. If not, buy and install it immediately. Even if you have this software, it must be updated regularly, as new viruses appear daily. Configure the programs to automatically download updates, making it easy to stay protected. Otherwise, periodically download the updates manually. DO NOT OPEN an e-mail attachment unless you know who sent it. Even then, it's not totally safe, as a sneaky virus that has infected a friend's computer can access the e-mail address book, send a message to everyone, and attach itself. To be completely safe, scan the attachment with your anti-virus software BEFORE you open it. If you receive a suspicious message, delete it immediately from your Inbox. When you delete a message, however, it's still on your system. Go into the Deleted Mail folder and delete the message again to permanently remove it from your computer. Regularly back up your files. Should your system become infected, you won't lose valuable data. WATCH THIS... Last update: Jan 12, 2010 Related Article: Downloading Explore More: Search the Web Learn the Net (www.learnthenet.com) is Copyright 1996-2010. Michael Lerner Productions. All Rights Reserved.