Computer Security - Viruses
Viruses are one of the greatest threats to computers. What are commonly referred to as viruses come in various forms. Some of these are viruses, worms and Trojan horses. The most common method of spreading viruses are by e-mail. While most viruses are blocked by an up-to-date virus scan program, many are sent as attachments to e-mails. It is important to not open those attachments that come from someone unknown to you. If you don't recognize the sender, just delete the e-mail before opening it.
(NEW - 09-09-2011) A new twist on this is to send out an email with an attachment that is supposedly a report from your financial institution, your credit card company or some other trusted comapny and it asks you to open the attachment to verify the information it contains. However, the attachment either has a trojan horse, a virus or even both. The trojan horse could possibly cause more problems as it could send information from your computer to the senders. This information could be computer information or your financial information
The best defense against viruses is a virus scan program with up to date virus definitions. Most current virus scan programs have can be set to automatically update themselves.
For now, be very careful with the e-mail you receive. If you receive an e-mail from someone you don't know or is suspicious, don't open any attachment it has. Also, keep your antivirus software up to date.
The following list are some of the many web sites concerning viruses and keeping your computer free of them. The first are the home pages for some of the anti-virus software producers, the middle ones are for searching for a virus or hoax and the last is a virus information reference page.
Please choose from the the following selections:
Avast Free Anti-Virus (for home use)
McAfee Anti-Virus Web Page
Symantec Virus & Risks Web Page
Symantec Security Response
Symantec Virus-Hoax Search
Antivirus Software