What to do About Computer Viruses
A virus is computer code that somehow finds its way into your computer without your knowledge. It interacts with your computer's operating system and memory and does troublesome things in your computer, often without your knowledge. Most people don't even know they have been infected by a virus until, all of a sudden, their computer slows down to a crawl or doesn't work at all. This happens when the virus is using all the available memory that used to be used to run your programs. Severe viruses can destroy hard drives, ruin software programs, delete important files, steal your identity and cost the victim a great deal of money and time. Some viruses can, all by themselves, move throughout networks and sneak by security systems. Viruses are very bad and need to be kept out of your computer.
It seems the first virus appeared when the Internet was just beginning and only used by the Department of Defense and several universities. Since then they have become much more sophisticated and even more dangerous. All viruses are made by human beings and, sadly, there are lots of bad guys out there that make them either for profit (as a way to attach itself to programs into your computer and then copy every keystroke you make, including your credit card information) or because they are sick puppies with way too much time on their hands.
Almost all viruses are attached to a program, executable file. These files end in extensions like .exe and .com. This means that the virus is harmless until that specific program is opened or started. Then the mayhem begins. This is why it is very dangerous to open an e-mail attachment unless you know exactly who sent it AND what is in the attachment.
What about worms and Trojan horses? A worm is a type of virus that can duplicate itself and use up lots of your computer's memory. However, a worm can't attach itself to another program. It just raises general havoc within the memory. Like a good wine, it also travels well. Worms take advantage of file transfer features in your operating system to easily move from computer to computer. E-mail files are a great example of this ability. A worm is not attached to a program file like a virus, but has the ability to continually replicate itself. For example, it can attach itself to every name in your e-mail address book and send itself, in an e-mail, to all your contacts. Then the same thing happens to them and on, and on and on. They consume so much system memory and network bandwidth (the size of your Inter or Intranet pipeline) that they can bring web servers, network servers and individual work stations to their knees. Worms used to be just for slowing down networks and computers. Now, more sophisticated versions tunnel into computers and allow the bad guys to remotely control your computer.
Readers of Homer's Odyssey know the Trojan Horse appeared to be a gift from the people of Troy to the citizens of Athens. Instead, soldiers were hidden inside the giant wooden horse and at night they slipped out and easily conquered the sleeping Greek city. A computer Trojan horse works the same way. It appears to be a legitimate piece of software that is good and helpful, but once it is opened mischief quickly occurs. Trojan horses used to only cause silly problems like changing desktop icons or wallpaper. Now they can destroy files and more significantly create a "back door" on your computer where bad people can enter, without your knowledge, and gain access to your personal information. Of course, this only happens when your computer is on line. However, with more and more people using broadband Internet access and always leaving their computers on, Trojan horses are becoming very common. The good news is that, by definition, Trojan horses do not replicate themselves and they don't infect other files.
Another type of virus is called an e-mail virus. That's because it arrives in your e-mail. E-mail viruses can be viruses, worms or Trojan horses, but need to be mentioned separately, because e-mail is an important part of our culture and most of us send and receive e-mail every day. E-mail viruses arrive as attachments to seemingly innocent e-mails. However the second you open the attachment, the virus in unleashed on your unsuspecting computer. To prevent this, simply follow a few basic rules.
1. Do not, under any circumstances, open an attachment unless you know who sent it AND exactly what is in that attachment. Remember, a worm can hijack any e-mail list and send infected e-mails without the sender's knowledge.
2. Anti-virus filters look for files that end in .exe and .com. These are executable programs and a dead giveaway that the attachment is a virus. The bad guys know this and often hide these files in Win Zip or Stuffit programs. Be especially careful of any attachment that arrives in a .zip or .sit format. Now we know a little about these nasty critters, what can we do to make sure our computer or network doesn't get infected. Don't underestimate the people who actually code the viruses. They are very smart computer geeks and understand far more than most of us about the vulnerabilities that are built into every computer, especially those with Microsoft operating systems and Microsoft Internet Explorer. That's because since practically everyone uses Microsoft software, that's where the attackers focus their efforts. Microsoft programmers are constantly working to close holes in their software and they constantly offer updates and patches to guard against the virus invasion.
Therefore, the first step is to make sure you are keeping your software current with the latest updates. They're free, and it only takes a couple of minutes. Use the automatic update feature that comes with your software and when it wants to download a patch or an update, let it. It may involve restarting your computer, but that better than a blank hard drive or letting someone steal your master card number. The automatic update program is found in your system tray on your Start Menu. That's the list of programs found under the time in your Start Menu.. There is an easy to follow wizard that gets you set up and the program automatically checks and downloads new patches and updates. You can also use programs like Big Fix, a free program that constantly checks your present computer security against updates and automatically downloads fixes and patches to keep your computer operating system security up-to-date. Big fix is not an anti-virus program. It simply keeps your Microsoft operating system current with the latest updates. You can find and download this free software at www.bigfix.com. Big Fix is recommended by Jamison Web Works.
