Virus Detection & Prevention Tips and Spy-Ware Tips

1. Do not open any files attached to an email from an unknown, suspicious or untrustworthy source. Be extremely suspicious of files with extensions .exe, .vbs, .com, .bat, .dll and .tar. 

    

2. Do not open any files attached to an email unless you know what it is, even if it appears to come from a dear friend or someone you know. Some viruses can replicate themselves and spread through email. Better be safe than sorry and confirm that they really sent it. Examples of these emails are the love letter and the Sircam viruses

    

3. Do not open any files attached to an email if the subject line is questionable or unexpected. If the need to do so is there always save the file to your hard drive before doing so.

    

4. Delete chain emails and junk email. Do not forward or reply to any to them. These types of email are considered spam, which is unsolicited, intrusive mail that clogs up the network. These may touch your heart and suggest bad luck if you don't send them.  You won't loose any lovers; revelations will not happen tomorrow; somebody is not going to die when you don't forward the message; your contribution to some goodwill email will not further the cause, and Microsoft, Symantec, or McAfee doesn't usually send out any virus information unless you ask for it. 

    

5. Do not download any files from strangers. If you don't know who sent the message, delete it and ask questions later.  Better safe than sorry.  The sircam virus would send emails from some address in Asia. 

    

6. Exercise caution when downloading files from the Internet. Ensure that the source is a legitimate and reputable one. Verify that an anti-virus program checks the files on the download site. If you're uncertain, don't download the file at all or download the file to a floppy and test it with your own anti-virus software.  Pornography sites and hacker sites are notorious for spreading viruses.  Chances are, if you are visiting a hacker site and do not know what it is you are downloading, they will. 

    

7. Update your anti-virus software regularly. Over 500 viruses are discovered each month, so you'll want to be protected. These updates should be at the least the products virus signature files. You may also need to update the product's scanning engine as well. Run the McAfee SuperDAT, Norton LiveUpdate or your software's virus definition update on a regular basis.  It is recommended to run this at least once a week.  You can schedule this to run as well.  For information on how to set it, check with your software manuals and provider. 

    

8. Back up your files on a regular basis. If a virus destroys your files, at least you can replace them with your back-up copy. You should store your backup copy in a separate location from your work files, one that is preferably not on your computer. Zip disks, LS-120 disks, CDR backups, tape backups, and plain floppy backups will ensure that you have you information regardless if your system goes down because of a virus. 

    

9. When in doubt, always err on the side of caution and do not open, download, or execute any files or email attachments. Not executing is the more important of these caveats. Check with your product vendors for updates which include those for your operating system web browser, and email. One example is the security site section of Microsoft located at http://www.microsoft.com/security. Windows security updates are available at http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com. 

Spy-Ware Information

1. Definition (courtesy Lavasoft, Inc.): commonly known as AdWare, ParasiteWare, or SpyWare. 
   
   "Most people are familiar with freeware, shareware, cookies, media players, interactive content, and file sharing. What they may not realize is that some of the aforementioned may contain code or components that allow the developers of these applications and tools to actually collect and disseminate information about those using them.
   
   They can track your surfing habits, abuse your Internet connection by sending this data to a third party, profile your shopping preferences, hijack your browser start page or pages, alter important system files, and can do this without your knowledge or permission. The security and privacy implications of these exploits should be quite obvious and undesirable on any system or network!"
2. Spy-Ware may prevent some software from running or installing correctly.  These kinds of software may affect the speed of your computer: how well it boots, how wells it opens applications and how well it surfs the Internet. 
    
3. Common sources of Spy-Ware software include Kazaa and WinMX.  Install of freeware, peer-to-peer or shareware software often encourages install of such software through EULA (or End-User License Agreement).  Be aware of what is being installed in addition with the software that you install on your system.
4. Some remedies include to delete temporary internet files (internet cache) and cookies on a regular basis.  Another remedy is to install Anti-Spy-Ware software like Lavasoft's Ad-Aware.