Computer Viruses
Perhaps you have heard of computer viruses in the
news, but do you know what a virus is? A virus is a bit of
programming code meant to cause
some unexpected and usually undesirable effect. (You use legitimate
programs all the time, like a card making program to create
personalized greeting cards. A virus is the same thing, except
it invades your computer without permission and, instead of creating
cards or picture albums, does something bad.) Some viruses are
playful and innocuous - maybe displaying a joke on the screen. Other
viruses can be devastatingly harmful - deleting files, stealing
passwords and credit card numbers, erasing your
hard drive, or even causing your hard drive to be reformatted. It's
vandalism to your computer.
Most viruses come from the Internet and email these
days. but they could come from
an infected floppy disk or from programs that you have downloaded
from a website. Often the person passing on the virus
is unaware that the file is infected. Sometimes the virus lies
dormant until a pre-determined circumstance (such as a date) causes
it to execute.
Not all viruses come through email.
Many people say, I only open mail from people I know. That's
no protection. Emails can look like they come from someone you
know...even if they do not.
Emails with viruses are commonly "spoofed".
Spoofing is sort of like putting a fake return address on an
envelope. It comes from someone different than it appears to
come from. Spoofed email does the same thing.
Anti-Virus
Programs
Anti-virus
programs are designed to check all of your files and eliminate viruses.
There are a wide variety of programs available for download and to
purchase. They usually range from $30 - $50. Anti-virus programs are like insurance policies. You might never need it…but if you do you'll be very glad you have it.
After the initial purchase, you must do two things, one is keep your
anti-virus software updated on a regular basis, and the second is to
renew your subscription when it runs out (usually after one year).
To keep your anti-virus
program effective, you must update it regularly. New viruses are created
all the time and you are only protected from these new viruses if you keep your
virus protection up-to-date. Your anti-virus program only fixes
viruses it knows about - you are vulnerable if you've never updated your
protection and your computer gets infected by a recent virus.
Even the most up-to-date
virus protection does not make you invulnerable! For
more information, check out the websites for SARC
(Symatec AntiVirus Research Center) and McAfee.
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