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Keep Your Computer Virus-free!
Somewhere out there
in cyberspace are malicious vandals hard at work dreaming
up new computer viruses. Eugene Kaspersky, (of Kaspersky
Lab Virus Research), in a November 23, 2005 article
posted in Security News, said, "The number of new
viruses and Trojans is now increasing every day by a
few hundred. (Our) virus lab receives between 200 and
300 new samples a day." That is Not a misprint.
He said 200-300 per DAY!
The worst ones we hear about. The large
majority are quiet and anonymous like termites, often
doing much damage before they are detected. Like human
viruses, their effects run the spectrum from mostly
benign to potentially fatal to their unwilling and unwitting
hosts. Also as in human viruses, there are two different
approaches to dealing with them: Prevention and Cure.
Preventing virus infection begins with
guarding the portals of contact. Do not open suspicious
e-mails or attachments without scanning them first.
Most anti-virus programs have a right-click option to
scan a selected file for viruses, which makes scanning
easy. Similarly, when you download software, eBooks
or whatever, always save to a file, then scan the file
before opening. If you bring in data or software by
floppy disk, CD or other portable media, the same rule
applies; scan it first!
A good firewall can help somewhat in
keeping viruses at bay, but there are too many ways
to hide them in regular data or software transfers for
a firewall to catch them all. A firewall (like chicken
soup for human flu) can help, but don't rely on that
alone.
As Benjamin Franklin said, "An
ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
However, sooner or later, some viruses are going to
get through your defenses somehow, and you will need
to turn to cures.
If you should get hit by a really bad
virus, you could lose most of your files before you
know that there is a problem! The first step to enable
cures is to prepare well in advance, positioning and
backing up your files for easy recovery. Set up your
computer with a small hard drive (4-10giga) for your
C: drive and a much larger hard drive for all your data.
Use your C: drive for programs only. Keep copies of
your software purchase receipts, registration and activation
codes and setup info in a file on your data drive. You
can always download them again, if you can give the
seller your purchase info to show that you already bought.
Almost all virus infections will be
in the program section of the C: drive, so scan it daily.
This won't take much time since you have arranged for
it to be relatively small. Then scan your (larger)data
drive once or twice a month.
You should still back up your data files
frequently. If you cannot backup everything, at least
backup the crucial information that would be difficult
or impossible to replace. CD and DVD burners are a good
way to do this backup, as are removable hard drives.
Finally, you will need good anti-virus
programs to go after the viruses and either quarantine
or (preferably) destroy them. There are many anti-virus
solutions being touted and hyped out there. Some are
good, most are not. Here is how to find the good ones:
1. Look for programs that offer both
active and passive protection. Active protection means
that part of the program remains memory-resident, actively
watching for potential incoming viruses. When they detect
a virus they can sound an alarm and give you a series
of options for dealing with it. Passive or on-demand
protection will let you ask for a scan of specified
areas when you want it, but it waits for you to ask.
2. Select your anti-virus software based
on the recommendations of independent testing agencies.
Checkmark (by westcoastlabs.org), AV-test.org and PC
World magazine are among the most respected independent
testers of anti-virus software. For ratings of anti-trojan
software, check with Anti-trojan - Forum. Use more than
one anti-virus and anti-trojan program. Very few detect
all problems, but what one program misses, another may
find and defeat.
3. Keep your anti-virus programs up
to date. There is a running gun battle going on between
virus writer-disseminators and virus catch-and-destroy
experts. New viruses are found; new anti-virus program
patches to find and destroy them are usually ready within
hours or days. Until your software is updated, you are
still vulnerable to the new viruses.
In addition to using anti-virus software
on your personal computer, consider using an Internet
Service Provider or e-mail service that includes server-side
anti-virus and spam e-mail filtering as a third layer
of protection.
In summary, be careful, get good software,
run it often and update it frequently... and stay alert
to new developments! This struggle between new viruses
and better anti-virus software is ongoing, and developing
rapidly.
1howto.com
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