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Viruses - Prevention and Protection by Karl Davis
If your computer is behaving strangely or you suspect you may have a virus due to programs launching that shouldn`t or other strange happenings that cannot be explained then I hope you`ll find the following useful. It`s worth taking virus protection seriously as it can often involve the cost of cleaning and re-installing your computers software, plus informing all of your contacts or receiving emails from them with embarrassing accusations that you have infected them. Many viruses can be used to invade your system and steal information and send it back to the virus writer, which can as in the case of the Bugbear virus give your passwords and internet banking details including credit card details etc. Your machine could be used not only to mass send email out containing viruses, but also be used to launch attacks on other users systems on a specified date. Frightening eh ? I`m not trying to cause mass hysteria but users of computers that are connected to the Internet have a responsibility to protect themselves from viruses and to prevent the spread of viruses from their equipment to others. It is easy to get caught out and as we have seen Viruses are getting more sophisticated, or rather the people that write them are using more and more tools at their disposal to attack vulnerable computers. It is not
enough to just have virus software installed on your computer. If the anti-virus software you use has an option to check automatically for updates use it. If you easily forget then why not make your anti-virus site the default page when you open Internet Explorer or other browser. There will always be a new virus or a new threat to the security of your computer and it is therefore vital that you do not become complacent about keeping it up to date and as there are free downloadable programs to protect your computer. The only real way to test a system to see if it is virused is to use an online scanner as a final check or throw a virus at it and see if it throws a wobbler or not. I am not suggesting that anyone should do that, but Pothead Pixie posted recently in Virus Discussion forum, I think about the Eicar Institute and you can test safely the effectiveness of your AV scanner HERE If your system is behaving strangely or you`d just like peace of mind that everything is fine then go to one of the links below.
Then click "Scan for Viruses" or Trend
Micro :
Free On-Line Scans for Viruses Symantec
(Norton Antivirus) Security Check HERE Trend Micro
(PC-cillin) Panda's
Active Scan McAfee -
AVERT WebImmune Antivirus
Expert - Online Virus Scanner
F-Prot AVP
for DOS download page. AntiVir
- Free updates
ZoneLabs
personal firewall Internet
security
Copyright © 2001-2006 © Copyright Karl Davis. No part of this site may be reproduced in any format.All documents author acknowledged are copyright retained by the author. Dead links or Errors ? Please email the Webmaster |
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