Computer Viruses

Does everyone need virus protection?

The most common ways of getting a computer viurs are opening email attachments and downloading files from the internet. Visiting disreputable websites also puts you at risk because they tend to sneak spyware and other junk onto your computer. If your computer or network is attached to the internet, it is definitely necessary to have virus protection.

Don't blame your friends when you receive a virus.

Most viruses use SPOOFING.

In short, spoofing removes the senders name from your email and replaces it with a sender who you are familiar with. Without going into details, if you receive an email from yourfriend@yahoo.com that contains a virus, don't blame yourfriend. A virus removes the original sender's email address and replaces it with someone who you are familiar with, which makes it more likely for you to infect your computer by opening up the email and clicking on the attachment.

Turn off your virus notification. It makes it worse.

Some Virus Protection Software has a feature that notifies the sender when a Virus infected email is received. Here's the problem: The identified sender is probably not the real sender. You are notifying the wrong person and just helping to clutter up and slow down the internet.

It is not the email that will infect your computer, it is the attachment.

You do not get a virus by opening the email. So, if you accidentally open the email, you are still fine. Your computer gets infected when you click on the attachment...so be very careful. Don't click on any attachment unless you know what the attachment contains.

For example, if you receive an email that contains a .scr attachment that you were not expecting...then don't open it.

On the other hand, if your daughter called to tell you that she is sending you a .jpg file with a baby picture on it, then it is likely to be a legit file.

If you have Norton Antivirus (or any of many other Virus Protection Software packages), and your virus definitions are current, you won't have to worry.

Are you listening???

Viruses are like flu shots. No one gets the protection until you get hit.

How can you be protected from all viruses? Norton Antivirus works very well; however, on occasion, it does interfere with some software products. Norton Antivirus is the most popular Antivirus Software out there. You can check www.pcworld.com and www.pcmag.com to look at other alternatives. Your local computer specialist may suggest a better alternative for your particular situation. The important thing is...you DO need to protect your computer against viruses. It can be done. Most people and corporations who get viruses get them because they are not careful about what they open or download and do not have an effective program to prevent them.

"If you don't have a firewall, your computer is a sitting duck." According to PC World, a router can provide additional protection to your computer and prevent unwanted people from entering your computer. For more information, go to www.pcworld.com.