Many of our clients were already using virus protection software, however some of the new strains of computer viruses are completely bypassing their software and installing themselves. Why not follow the following practical hints on exactly how to avoid getting your computer infected in the first place?
First off, email is the biggest culprit with virus infections. If you get an email from someone you know, and it has a file in it, you should verify with them what the file is before you click on it. Be careful of very tricky emails, many of them are very compelling in making your open up your emails.
Secondly, the websites that you visit can be problematic as well. When you're doing google searches, be careful what website you actually are visiting, as many of these sites may have bad code on the webpage whose only purpose is to infect your computer system.
Third, it might be time to choose another web browser over Microsoft Internet Explorer. You might want to consider an alternative choice like Opera or my personal favorite Mozilla Firefox. I have found Firefox to be much more stable, and much more secure over Internet Explorer. One of the main reasons why it makes sense to use Firefox or Opera is because many viruses will not work on Firefox which is just an added level of protection for you.
Fourth, be careful what you download. Many sites that allow you to download illegal copies of software could infect you with viruses. Obviously if they are promoting the illegal downloading of software, they are much more likely to cause you problems with nasty viruses.
As far as virus protection software, I haven't used a virus program in years. I find them to be a problem with the speed of my computer. By keeping good backups of data, and being very proactive of what I'm doing with my computer I've enjoyed a virus free existence over the last five years.
By taking a practical paranoid protection of your computer, you'll be able to avoid most computer virus infections. Good luck, and stay virus free.
Check Computer For Viruses
THE ENEMY - Hackers and Crackers
Computer geeks say that there is a difference between hackers and crackers. Crackers do damage to systems they break into while hackers just want to see how everything works. We'll use the more common term of hacker. Originally the term hacker was someone who made furniture with the use of an axe.
A virus is "malware" for your computer. This is a term that covers all kinds of software that is malicious. The most common types of malware are Trojans, worms, and viruses.
VIRUSES
Viruses are often hidden inside of other programs, for example installation programs that arrive to you through email attachments. When you run this host program the virus is executed. When the virus is in your computer memory it will be able to do a lot of damage such as infecting other computer programs.
Once the infection phase of the virus is complete the next stage begins: the destructive phase. Viruses will wait for a certain trigger, such as a date or the number of times that the virus has been copied, before the payload is delivered. The payload can be as simple as messages all the way to the deletion of files to the destruction of your operating system.
When viruses were first created they were often distributed on a floppy disk. As the Internet has grown, email and file downloads are the best way for viruses to be passed. Email can have attachments that can contain any type of computer file. Executable files can be loaded with viruses and therefore you shouldn't run them unless you're sure that they are virus free.
WORMS
Worms are much like viruses because they are self-copying. They can reproduce across multiple networks without human aid, such as through the sending of emails. Worms, however, don't need an executable program in order to be passed along.
A worm can affect a computer network more than it can infect computers that are on that network. Because they self-copy they can overload the resources on a network. This can cause slow downs in the speed of data transfers by using a large amount of bandwidth...more bandwidth than is needed for normal network traffic. Any network that routes traffic on the Internet is simply known as software and hardware that is specialized. Both software and hardware can be bothered by malware.
A worm can be created to carry payloads by using an installation program through the backdoor. A backdoor is an access point into the computer that is hidden. The worm uses the backdoor and ignores the usual procedure for login. Backdoors are often used by spammers so that they can send junk email.
TROJAN HORSES
A Trojan horse is another kind of malware. A Trojan horse is a computer program that acts as though it will do one thing when it will actually do something different. This term comes from the story of Troy, a city which was deceived by the Greeks to get into the inner city undetected. A Trojan horse can't replicate itself the way viruses and worms can.
A Trojan horse can be hidden in software that is otherwise useful. When a Trojan horse starts it can do such things as corrupt files, install backdoors, erase data, and keep track of keystrokes. This information will enable hackers to steal your personal information such as passwords and credit card numbers.
COMBATING MALWARE
In this series we will talk about what you can do to fight malware. Until then it's important to just be passive and not expect that your computer problems will be taken care of by someone else. Combating viruses needs the involvement of users, webmasters, and software vendors.
Both Fred Roe & Paul Wilcox are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Fred Roe has sinced written about articles on various topics from Computer Virus, Personal Desktop. company Nerds Next Door specializes in. Fred Roe's top article generates over 2400 views. to your Favourites.
Paul Wilcox has sinced written about articles on various topics from Anger Control, Information Technology and Finances. Paul Wilcox writes about issues for the Internet Security Squad website. Get more helpful information and advice at http://www.int. Paul Wilcox's top article generates over 6600 views. to your Favourites.
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