Viruses

How a Virus Works

A virus is a program in disguise. They can arrive imbedded in files you download or in email attachments, and usually are named as something they are not to trick you into running them, or they are designed to use other programs on your computer to get themselves started. Once allowed to run, a virus can spread to the rest of your system, and to other computers.

Computer viruses have enormous potential for damage: files crash, important data disappears, productivity is interrupted, entire networks go down and hardware is damaged or destroyed. Anti-virus solutions protect multiple entry points to your network against known and unknown viruses. Files you download from the internet or receive from another person should be virus scanned before opening or running them. Always scan attachments from e-mail messages! If you don't know the person who sent it, the email very likely contains a virus.

Don't download anything that's not from a source you trust, such a reliable company or a friend. Use anti-virus software to scan all files downloaded.

Anti-Virus Software, a Must-Have

New viruses crop up on a daily basis. For your anti-virus software to do its job correctly, you must keep the "virus definitions" updated. These definitions are what your anti-virus software uses to identify many viruses, so if its not kept current newer viruses will go undetected. This is a free download, which you will find at: www.symantec.com. We recommend updating these virus definitions every 2 weeks. A few minutes downloading this file can eliminate hours and possibly days of frustration as you try to clean your server and repair any damage made to your files or programs.

Virus programs must be "optimized" to work with your computer system. One feature you may want to avoid is the option to auto-protect all files. This feature will slow your computer down. It is best to scan only certain types of files so that your computer is not re-scanning the same files every time you open them. To optimize your computer with virus software can be a tricky matter if you do not understand all the choices and file types used in your computer environment. If you are noticing it takes a long time for files and programs to open, contact us for assistance.

About Email Viruses

How they work

Email-based viruses have been steadily growing in occurrence, and are now among the most common varieties. They all function in a similar manner:

The virus is embedded in a script in the email. It infects your system by taking advantage of certain features of common email programs (email clients) that will automatically download email and will then run programs or scripts within the mail.

How to stop them

One way to guard against such viruses is to configure your email client not to automatically download attachments. Instead, you can read the text of the email, see who it's from, and then decide if it's safe to download the attachment. This is not a 100% guarantee of safety as there area still ways for a virus to get into your system, but it will catch viruses that come as attachments. The procedure for doing this varies depending on which client and mail server you have, and some configurations do not allow for it. Consult your ISP or the documentation for your email client for further information.

Another precaution you can take is to not use an email client that provides features for a virus to exploit. The most notorious at-risk email client is MS Outlook. The very first email viruses, from which most email virus designs are derived, were written specifically for attacking Outlook users. Outlook has a feature that will automatically run Visual Basics scripts within an email, and once that happens it is easy for such a virus to attack your system and use your Outlook address book to send itself to everyone who's email address you have stored there; friends, business associates, family, etc. (This is also why you must be careful even when reading mail sent by someone you know and trust). If you wish to continue using MS Outlook or Outlook Express, it is strongly recommended that you regularly check www.microsoft.com for security updates.

If you are not protected against viruses, it would be our pleasure to let you know how DJW Inc. can provide anti-virus solutions that meets your company's needs. Call: 1-415-491-1616