Virus Info, Tips & Advice

What is a Virus?
A virus is a manmade program or piece of code that causes an unexpected, usually negative, event (i.e. Stealing your usernames and passwords, your credit card info, your address books, or anything you type!) Viruses are often disguised games or images with clever marketing titles such as "Me, nude." If you believe your computer is infected you should refrain from going to your bank's website, entering cc info, or any personal info until you get it cleaned.

Why did I get a virus, I have an antivirus program?
Welcome to the "Race". It's a constant battle between good and evil, and the bad guys win a lot of the time. They create a virus that there isn't a cure for yet, and "bam" you're infected.

A lot of folks don't realize that their virus scans and updates are by default scheduled to run in the middle of the night - and they shut their computers off at night! You need to have it on for the fixes to occur. Also, it's VERY important to have all of the latest operating system security patches in place the moment they are released - in the middle of the night too!

Expired = no good! If your product has expired, it's no good anymore!

What is a Worm?
Computer Worms are viruses that reside in the active memory of a computer and duplicate themselves. They may send copies of themselves to other computers, such as through email or Internet Relay Chat (IRC).

What is a Trojan Horse?
A Trojan horse program is a malicious program that pretends to be a benign application; a Trojan horse program purposefully does something the user does not expect. Trojans are not viruses since they do not replicate, but Trojan horse programs can be just as destructive.

Many people use the term to refer only to non-replicating malicious programs, thus making a distinction between Trojans and viruses.

Windows Security Center
Make sure that you enable all the features of the Microsoft Windows Security Center, and be sure to update windows whenever prompted (you will need a genuine copy of a Windows operating system to do this). If you are unsure how to go about this, visit Microsoft's Protect Your PC site and you can find detailed information.

Antivirus Software
Install an antivirus program. There are several effective free antivirus programs such as Avast! and AVG that you can use on your home computer.

Secure Your Network
If your computer is connected to a wireless network, be sure to secure the network with an encrypted password. If you leave your network open, anyone within signal range can access your network, and potentially access all of the computers that are connected to the network.

Be Careful What You Download
The most common way Viruses are transmitted is through voluntary user download. Often times, viruses are disguised as applications or other files attached to emails or available for download on suspicious websites. Many email providers now offer built in virus scanners that will scan attachments before allowing you to download them, but they are not foolproof. Always make sure you know who the email is coming from that contains the attachment before you download. Never download anything from a website that you do not trust or that you do not feel 100% safe about.

Don't Use Bootlegs
Aside from the legal consequences, using bootlegged CDs to install software can also make your PC vulnerable to attack. Many times bootlegs are distributed with viruses (or they are just viruses, altogether). If you don't know or trust the source of the CD, don't use it.

Free Programs Aren't Always "Free"
Many times, software is created and made available for download with a "free" license through several online outlets. Occasionally, this software may be bundled with spyware or adware that is intentionally delivered with the software. While this type of intrusion will not likely damage your computer like a virus can, it can cause performance issues, especially if there are many similar programs hiding on your computer. While this may sound like an unscrupulous way to distribute free software, it is usually disclosed in the user agreement that you must acknowledge and agree to before installing the software that you downloaded. If you are to later use a spyware or adware removal tool to rid your computer of the spyware or adware that came along with your software, the software may potentially stop functioning, as you will be in violation of the terms of use agreement. This method of distributing spyware and adware is actually quite popular, especially with P2P (peer to peer) applications (i.e. LIMEWIRE, Bit torrents, etc.)

Back Up Your Data Frequently
One of the most devastating consequences of a computer virus can be the corruption of data. Some viruses simply erase data. The only way to fully safeguard against this is to routinely make full backups of your entire system. If you simply have too much information on your computer for this to be a reasonable routine, then at least make a habit out of regularly backing up the data that is most important to you (personal messages, records, photos, etc). A standard, single layer recordable DVD holds 4.3gb of data, which depending on the amount of information on your computer, may or may not be enough to backup your most sensitive data. If not, you can use multiple DVDs to store data. New, high definition DVDs can hold up to 50gb of data. If you don't have a DVD burner, you can also use separate, external hard drives to backup data. There are also USB compatible flash drives that are very portable, and some can hold several gigabytes of data.