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As an on-going project, I will be placing your experiences and input into this area. Some will be linked with the information of any products listed here for easy reference. Let us know if you have any information. Especially if there is any problem with any of the information on this page! The old adage applies here as well: "To error is human, to be perfect divine". Being that we are human, use the following information as just that, and not infallible. |
What many people call viruses are not classed as such, they are also known
as Worms and Trojans.
A virus specifically is Code written with the express intention of replicating
itself. A virus attempts to spread from computer to computer by attaching itself
to a host program. It may damage hardware, software, or information. Just as
human viruses range in severity from Ebola to the 24-hour flu, computer viruses
range from the mildly annoying to the downright destructive. The good news is
that a true virus does not spread without human action to move it along,
such as sharing a file or sending an e-mail.
A worm generally spreads without user action and distributes complete copies
(possibly modified) of itself across networks. A worm can consume memory or
network bandwidth, thus causing a computer to stop responding. Because worms
don't need to travel via a "host" program or file, they can also tunnel into
your system and allow somebody else to take control of your computer remotely.
It, like a virus, is designed to copy itself from one computer to another, but
it does so automatically by taking control of features on the computer that
can transport files or information. Once you have a worm in your system it can
travel alone. A great danger of worms is their ability to replicate in great
volume. For example, a worm could send out copies of itself to everyone listed
in your e-mail address book, and their computers would then do the same, causing
a domino effect of heavy network traffic that would slow down business networks
and the Internet as a whole. When new worms are unleashed, they spread very
quickly, clogging networks and possibly making you wait twice as long for you
(and everyone else) to view Web pages on the Internet.
When you think Trojans, just think of the mythological Trojan horse. It appeared to be a gift, but turned out to contain Greek soldiers who overtook the city of Troy. Today's Trojan horses are computer programs that appear to be useful software, but instead they compromise your security and cause a lot of damage. These can also arrive in the form of an e-mail appearing to come from some legitimate source like your Bank, or Microsoft.
Unless you have up-to-date anti-virus software installed on your computer, there is no sure way to know if you have a virus. Unfortunately even with protection, there is no guarantee that you will not get one or have one (that has not been discovered yet).
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The only absolute way to assure that you do not introduce a Virus into your system is for your computer to never have any communication with another computer or introduce any data or programs that have been in contact with another computer. This is somewhat impractical on that level, as the retail programs you install fall into that category. The disks you bought at your local retail store were developed on a computer. A few years back (1997) I bought a retail boxed program and installed it on my computer from the factory CD. The company that produced it was a well known name that predates Microsoft. A month after I installed it, my anti-virus program detected a virus (I had just updated my anti-virus product). I was in so much disbelief that I scanned the factory CD and sure enough, it was there! That being said; ALWAYS have a currently updated anti-virus program on your computer and setting reasonable limits to your computer's contact with others is a good Idea.
Limits like:
Use the available resources to you to minimize your risk. Some important resources are:
Install an Anti-virus program, keep it updated frequently, or update the one you have frequently.
Updates:
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A little on Virus Tests... Almost all Anti-virus products
claim to use tests many of these are tests performed by the software vender
themselves, as such, consider the source when seeking an honest evaluation of
anti-virus products. Something to also consider it what type of computer and
Operating systems these tests were performed on.
*** BEWARE! Some software advertised on these sites are not tested by them.***
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Compatibility is key, as well as which product you determine suits your needs best. A good match can keep your computer running smoothly and a bad match will slow your system to a crawl. Let us know what you are using and how it works on your system. Below are some suggestions (Note: Always check ratings and compatibility before deploying software):
AVG (free)
ClamWin (free)
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Recently I had a customer who downloaded and paid for a product called WinAntivirus 2005. (This product is advertised on may web sites) As many other products do, it claimed to be better than all the other anti-virus products out there. This "product" had lots of bugs, and I suspect (but could not prove) introduced adware/malware to the system. It did not however at a minimum, leave untouched hundreds of little applications I had to remove.
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