Viruses and Worms

A virus is a man-made computer program that, when opened, infects your computer and attempts to spread itself to other computers. It will often spread via e-mail automatically by sending copies of itself to everyone in an address book. In order for a virus to spread it's necessary for a person to open the virus-infected program. Viruses can be attached to other legitimate programs and run without the user being aware of their presence and some websites can infect your computer with a virus as well.

Another harmful agent is a worm, which shares most of the traits of a virus, but is able to spread on its own without human interaction.  Worms seek out non-infected computers by searching the network, and then spread themselves by exploiting security weaknesses. Computer users often install viruses on their computers by accident. Because viruses spread themselves automatically, they often come from friends or family members without their knowledge. Even though an e-mail came from someone you trust, you may still be in danger of contracting a virus.

Virus Protection

• Use an anti-virus program.
• Download updated virus profiles for your anti-virus program as often as practical.
• Set your anti-virus program to scan at start-up.
• Set your anti-virus program to scan each and every file when it's used by the computer.
• Keep your computer software up to date.
  • Operating system updates are critical. Microsoft Update service is free of charge, and provides most members a valuable tool to keep their operating system current with the latest security patches.
• Keep your other applications (even your games) updated.
  • Don't open attachments to e-mails sent by people you don't know and assure anyone who uses the computer to do the same.
• If someone you know sends you an attachment, scan it with an anti-virus program before you open it.
• Be very careful when using peer-to-peer file sharing programs. Viruses are easily spread on these types of services.
• Make sure to scan all downloads with an anti-virus program before installing.
• Don't install any software or programs unless they are from a source you trust.
• Back up all of your important files regularly.
  • Many viruses corrupt or even delete legitimate files and software .
  • If a virus corrupts your files, and you "clean" your computer to eradicate the virus, you will run the risk of losing the corrupted files.