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Computer viruses and spyware are pieces of software with unique abilities, such as deleting, stealing data, or
creating pop up advertisements. Banner ads on websites and email attachments are two of the most common ways to get
spyware and viruses. Way back in the day floppy disks were the culprit; the exchanging of infected disks led to the
spread of these nasty pieces of software. The day of the floppy disk has certainly come and gone, its replacements,
email and the internet, have made it quicker to become infected. A strong antivirus solution and some knowledge about
these infections will help prevent you from being the victim of these malicious programs.
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1. Make sure your Antivirus is up to date. Nothing is worse than having a bunch of spyware and viruses
only to find out that the antivirus expired 2 months earlier. The antivirus programs are made to remind you when
the subscription is up – it is good to heed the warning. Not all antivirus solutions are made equal either.
At WitzEnd Computing, we recommend Norton Antivirus 2008.
Symantec started selling Norton Antivirus 2008 online in August. It should be available in stores by the end of September.
We don't recommend the other versions of Norton Antivirus 2008, which includes,
Norton 360, Norton Internet Security 2008
and Norton Systemworks, because they tend to slow down your computer and often lead to security overkill. We've recently started testing
Norton Antivirus 2008 and found
that it runs faster than Norton Antivirus 2007, yet maintains the same level of security.
2. If there is an attachment on an email that is from someone you do not know, do not save or open that attachment.
A great way to get infected is through compressed files, executables, and Office documents (Macro Viruses hide in Office documents). Remember, it is still very possible to get infected with attachments from email that your
friends or coworkers send to you. If their antivirus is out of date or their antivirus software cannot stop that particular virus, they could send the virus to
you without knowing it.
3. Stay away from websites that do not appear to be legitimate. There are many websites that promote fake antivirus programs –
these websites will ask to download some program to fix some problem. The problem they speak of is fake as well as their
antivirus solution. That download will infect you and affect your home or office network.
4. Stay away from Peer-to-Peer Sharing programs.
Peer-to-peer programs are generally free on the internet and allow you
to search member computers for downloads you are looking for. These programs are where you’ll find music, video, and software
all for “free” (actually most of it is illegal). These free pieces of software may be riddled with spyware and viruses, and all
it needs is for you to double click to install. Some well-known examples of peer-to-peer programs are Kazaa, Lime-Wire and Morpheus.
Keep yourself safe and stay away from these programs.
5. Use a Hardware or Software Firewall. See Steve Fink's write-up
"Do I have a firewall".
6. Give yourself a password. It's a good idea to put a password on your computer and on all the users that log on to your computer.
A password is the last line of defense for your computer. After the attacker or a virus gets buy your firewall, they'll still need your
password to be able to execute most programs. This is especially true in Windows Vista.
7. If possible, give yourself and others using your computer, basic user rights. This is not always practical, but it is a very strong
layer of defense and we recommend it particularly for businesses. If you don't have administrator rights, then neither does the virus that somehow
found it's way past your other layers of security. If you do give yourself basic user rights, be sure you've set a password on the administrator
account and be sure you know what it is, so when you do need to log into it you'll be able to.
The people who make malware are always a step ahead of the antivirus companies. You can help protect yourself
with the points laid out above. The saying goes “it is better to be safe than sorry” - the best bet to keep away from trouble is to just keep
away from anything that seems “shady.” Antivirus is a great layer of protection, but it is not always perfect; antivirus solutions are greatly
helped by user restraint and a little foresight.
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- Ed Duvall and Steve Fink MCSE, MCSA, A+, Network+, Witzend Computing -
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