|
|
Viruses are simple programs built to cause havoc with your computer. There are literally millions of them out there, some do nothing more than just alter your personal settings, while others are built to destroy your computer.
The Most Important Thing You Have To Learn Is That Your Computer Is Dumb.
What I mean by that is: your computer can not do anything it is not told. A virus tells it to do things it should not do.
You may have heard of "klez" and the "bugbear", these two were (are) very prolific and cause a lot of trouble on a world-wide basis.
The Klez virus was built to go around and get past almost all anti-virus programs - specifically Nortons. Once it has entered your system it randomly deletes files from your computer and since it could easily just be a J-peg file (picture) it can go unnoticed for some time. Or, it could just as easily delete the main boot up file for your entire computer. It also deletes parts of your virus scanner and firewall, and can make your computer very vunerable to attack from crackers.
The Bugbear virus was another major virus which spread quickly throughout the internet and had the same types of effects as the Klez. Both of these viruses were mostly spread by infected email, Most people do not realise that it is surprisingly easily to send mail which is infected without knowing it, as the virus itself sends the mail - NOT you. If you become infected with a virus by email, it will almost certainly have the abilities to look into your address book and forward mail from your address to all your friends. As everyone has slightly different groups of friends and the virus works so quickly to take control of your system, they can spread completely out of control at an amazing speed.
Let's do the math on it - it can be so quick as to be unbelievable.
One person releases the virus to any email address. It enters the system and sends out mail to ten people on the contact list. It arrives instantly, and it is opened by someone thinking its from a friend, and "safe". It enters his system and sends out to 10 more people on the contact list, and each of them open it. So in as little as 5 minutes, 100 computers are infected. It can happen this quickly!!! Before you open any mail have a look to its "file size" and decide if you want to open the email. Look at the the senders email address. Is it a friend? Would they send a large sized email to you? Why don't you ask them by using Instant Messenger before opening it? It only takes a second to confirm any unusual mail - and can save you a lot of trouble and money. If you do not know the sender, seriously question if you should open the email. Keep in mind that some viruses mimic intellegent emailers" they pick a random name from the infected address book and assign a random file name to the attachment (sometimes by grabbing a file name from the infected computer like "birthday.jpg") then it will email the file to a second random name in the address book. By gambling that all three users know each other and share interests they can create a dangerous mixture of believable factors. When in doubt 0 throw it out. Friends can always resend.
An Email Sent Virus Can Only Harm Your Computer If You Open It, So Be Careful. There are around 300 new viruses found each day - many more get released.
Most current virus scanners come with a email scanning capability. USE IT!!! You would not believe the number of people who have spent a lot of money on virus scanners, etc and turn off the basic modes because "it slows me down though..." Yes, it does take a few more seconds of your life each week - but can save you thousands of pounds/dollars (whatever) compared to what happens if you do not take the time to be careful!
One of the best free virus scanners available (and is recommended by the 7th best hacker in America) is the AVG 6.0 here is a link to it: Free Virus Scanner. It also provides free updates to the scanner on a weekly basis.
Whenever possible, I will post on the main message boards, any new virus threats and cures as they are announced.
Please keep in mind: there are anti-viral programs, virus scanners, and virus removal programs. Anti-viral programs are designed to stop the virus working. A virus scanner only tells you that a virus is present. A virus remover is a simple program designed to remove that specific virus (or a small group of similar virus). Most anti-virus programs these days are designed to be all three in one... but that does not mean they all are! Likewise, all anti-virus programs may look for similar things but not the exact same things - it pays to double check your results against a free, online scan from a separate company.
Members are reminded: do not advertise in public which programs you rely upon for protection! Since each company has specific strengths and weaknesses an attacker can use this information against you. They will know exactly when your company announces new advances, when your program auto-updates from the internet and what the changes will not protect against!
Copyright Web Design May 28, 2003.
Updated June 28, 2003. |
|
|
