Virus Alert!

Viruses are on the rise and it's time to take a proactive approach before it's too late. Computer viruses (also known as bugs, worms, glitches, trojan horses, bombs, etc.) can spread rapidly, and wreak havoc on numerous computers, in some cases without the user even knowing they are infected.

Viruses Cost Time & Money Computer viruses present a serious risk to the user of the infected computer to lose both time and money...not to mention possibly unrestorable data. Repairing or replacing damaged software will take time, and could end up costing a lot of money. You may even be completely unable to use your computer. And there is no way to put a dollar amount on losing crucial data that wasn't backed up, and cannot be replaced.

Viruses Can Steal Your Passwords Consider the "sofunny.exe" virus - This virus actually steals your AOL passwords! Imagine the damage that is possible when your usernames and passwords fall into the wrong hands. A person could easily close your account, make purchases in your name, destroy your personal settings, send dirty or embarrassing emails pretending to be you, or even worse, possibly find your home address and phone number.

Viruses Open 'Back Doors' Some viruses install what is known as a "back door," which can allow an unknown person or persons to use your computer to hack other computers - and make it look like it's you doing all the dirty work. You do not want to be accused of hacking into someone else's computer - Hacking is considered a very serious crime, and the penalties can be severe. Also, you don't want someone else browsing through your computer either.

Viruses Send Themselves To Your Friends Some computer viruses will spread by emailing themselves to every, or to the first 50, etc., email address that you have saved in your address book. The email will have a clever subject line, like "This is safe to open," and most people won't think twice about opening the email, because after all, it's you sending it - so they assume. It's actually the virus itself, but it can be difficult to tell the difference, since it's coming from a familiar email address. Once your friends have the virus, it will in turn email itself to all the people in their address book, and so on. It doesn't take long for these types of viruses to spread all over the Internet, even into other countries. Sometimes it can be a matter of days.

Here's how you can take a proactive approach to protecting your equipment from viruses:

Update Anti-Virus software
New viruses come out all the time, so it's very important to keep your Anti-Virus software updated. Your software has to have the updated files to protect you from new viruses. This is especially important if you receive frequent email attachments, and use lots of floppy disks obtained from others.

Perform a full scan
Perform a full virus scan of your computer at least once a month, preferably after updating your anti-virus software. Sometimes this can take a little while to do with larger hard drives, but it's worth the wait, especially if a virus can be detected and safely removed.

Keep your software up to date
It's very important to stay up-to-date with software security patches to your existing software, such as Windows, email software, etc. Hackers and people who write viruses find new 'holes' in popular software programs all the time, and they invent new methods to exploit them. Be sure you're protected!

Here are some steps that we recommend you take to gain maximum control over viruses:

Exercise extreme caution when opening email attachments
Even though you might know the person it came from, you never know where they got the file. Or, it could be a virus that emails itself without that person even knowing. Also, take a look at the file extension of the attached file - what kind of file is it? There are several filetypes that can cause trouble, but some of the more popular ones include '.vbs', '.doc', and '.exe'. You may occasionally receive a zipped file from someone. It's important to be careful with '.zip' files as well, because they can contain harmful files inside.

Perform a scan of any floppy disk before accessing it's contents
This is especially important if the contents of the floppy disk came from a high school or college computer (as many highly damaging viruses are often created by computer science students), or if the disk is frequently passed between different people.

Always use Anti-Virus software
Always a good idea, especially if you are connected to the Internet, receive lots of email attachments, use zipped files, or share floppy disks.

Use firewall software
If you are on the Internet often, you may consider installing a firewall on your computer. A firewall is software that protects you from attackers from the Internet, and from "back door" viruses on your system.

We will be more than happy to assist you in removing viruses from your equipment. For more Anti-Virus details, click here.

The following are links to leading Anti-Virus companies:

McAfee

Norton (Symantec)

My-Etrust.com

Free World Virus Map - A real-time snapshot of infected computers and infected files within the last 24 hours, 7 days, and 30 days.
http://www.mcafee.com/anti-virus/virusmap.asp

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Remember, we don't rush out as soon as the job is complete. We gladly help answer questions, guide you through your new software and/or hardware, offer various suggestions to help improve efficiency and safety, etc. We are here to help!

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