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10 Rules to Live By if You Want to Avoid Computer
Viruses
1. Always run an up-to-date anti-virus program that uses
real-time protection.
Up-To-Date does not mean you purchased it within the last six
months. Up-To-Date means that you update the program weekly to make
sure the virus definition files are current. You normally do this
over the internet. Some systems will update themselves, if they have
an internet connection, some require you to download a file. Check
your software and figure out how to do it and do it at least once a
week. Real-time protection means that your anti-virus program checks
all incoming and outgoing files for viruses and stops the transfer
if it finds one.
2. NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER open an e-mail attachment unless
you know what it is and who sent it.
Make sure the person that is showing as the sender is the one who
sent it. You can get a virus
from people you know. The sender many not even be aware
they have the virus or many not update their anti-virus software
very often. Many viruses will send copies of itself to
everyone in the infected users address book. For example, if I had
your e-mail in my address book and I opened an infected file and
started the virus, it would send you a copy of the virus with me as
the sender and it will probably have a subject line you would be
interested in. So even if you get an e-mail from me with an
attachment, don't open it until you contact me and asked if I sent
it to you. If the
message, subject line or an attachment looks unusual then DO NOT
open or even click on it. Delete the entire E-mail
immediately.
3. Make sure your system is set to view the entire file name
of attachments.
If you don't know how to do that, figure it out. Many viruses
attempt to hide their identity by adding an additional period and 3
digit extension to the file name. For example, picture.jpg.vbs may
appear on your computer as picture.jpg. You think it is a picture
file and you open it -- you just started a Visual Basic Script (vbs)
virus. NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER open a file with the .vbs extension
unless you know what it does. Normally, you are a high level user
(programmer) if you need to use .vbs files.
4. It is always better to be safe than sorry.
There are a lot of legitimate files out there with an extension
of .exe. There are also a lot of viruses out there with an extension
of .exe. Is it worth taking a chance? If no, delete the e-mail and
move on. If yes, see number one above.
5. If you open an e-mail with an attachment and your computer
seems to "take off", then shut it down immediately.
By "take off", I mean unusual hard drive activity and maybe even
a slowing down of the computer. This can be an indication that the
virus is sending itself to the people in your address book or
damaging files on your hard drive - even formatting it.
6. If you contract a virus, seek help.
Go to the Symantec or
McAfee web-sites for information on the virus and how to clean
it up. Be aware that some viruses have programming in them that
prevents your browser from going to these sites. Also some viruses
can literally destroy your computer, so you may have to use another
computer for your investigation.
7. E-mails are the number one way of contracting a virus, but
are not the only way.
You can also get a virus by downloading files from the internet,
or even visiting a malicious web site. The key to survival here is
"Use Caution". If you go to a known hacker site you can expect to
get viruses, trojans, and be attacked by hackers. See number one
above.
8. The Internet is the number one way of contracting a virus
(through e-mails, downloads, and malicious web sites), but is not
the only way.
You can also get viruses by inserting and reading infected floppy
disks and CD-Rom disks. Before you do anything else, scan these for
viruses.
9. Don't propagate HOAX viruses.
These are not really viruses, but are fictitious e-mails that
wander around the internet warning of gloom, doom, and falling
skies. They usually tell the reader to "pass this on to everyone you
know!" I would estimate that 95% or more of these viruses alerts are
a HOAX. Don't send it to anyone unless and until you know for sure
that it is legitimate. Why not? These e-mails cause several
detrimental effects that may be as bad as an actual virus. First,
they cause people to delete and not read what may be legitimate
e-mails. One that is going around is "A Virtual Card for You!"
warning. After reading this, a person may delete legitimate cards
from family and friends. Second, they de-sensitize the public to the
problem of viruses. After seeing so many of these, people tend to
not heed them anymore. Then a real warning comes out which they
ignore and they get infected by a virus. Third, they cause massive
traffic to certain websites like Microsoft, Symantec, and McAfee.
You can check out the legitimacy of a virus by going to http://vil.nai.com/vil/default.asp and
looking up the suspected virus. It will say HOAX if it is not real.
10. Even if you do everything right, you may still get a
virus.
When a new virus comes out, it usually takes at least 24 hours
before a virus definition is released for it. You may get the virus
before your anti-virus system is updated. Authors of these viruses
are usually people that think it is a game. Their objective is to
write a virus that gets around all of your protection. If they are
successful, you may contract a virus. What to do? Make sure you have
backups to the extent possible. For home computers, this may mean
storing critical data on floppies if you don't want to purchase a
tape unit. (Those are relatively cheap by the way.) If you get a
nasty virus, and there are some out there that will cause you to
replace your computer, then backups may be the only hope you have of
restoring critical and irreplaceable data.
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