Published in the August 2005 issue of Adoh! Magazine
By Laurie Ashton
I bet you never thought your computer could get sick, did you? After all, it’s just a bunch of circuits and boards and magnetic doo-dads, right? What could possibly go wrong?
Yeah, well, that’s really a very very long list, but before you get all depressed or bent out of shape, let’s focus on the subject of today’s article: viruses, Trojans, worms, and other malicious code. But I can hear some of you saying, “What the heck,” so let’s start at the beginning, shall we?
Viruses
Program or piece of code that causes an unexpected, usually negative, event, they’re often disguised as games or images with clever marketing titles such as “Me, nude” or “I Love You” or “Cool screensaver. Check it out.” Viruses can be nothing more than a pop-up message on a certain day saying, “Happy New Year!” (never mind that it’s September.) Or, if you’re unlucky and your life is doomed, the virus could overwrite your data files (bye bye!) or cause your computer to crash. Constantly. And just when you start instant messaging with a cute girl.
Worms
Computer Worms are viruses that reside in the active memory of a computer and duplicate themselves. They may send copies of themselves to other computers, such as through email or Internet Relay Chat (IRC). Which means that all your friend’s computers could also lose their data or have constantly crashing computers, spreading your unluck and doom. But then, misery loves company, so not all is lost.
Trojans
A Trojan horse program is a malicious program that pretends to be a benign application. It could appear to be a game, but instead, deletes or overwrites files, or copies sensitive information. Trojans are not viruses since they do not replicate, but Trojan horse programs can be just as destructive. The term “Trojan Horse” comes from a possibly mythical ruse of war used by the Greeks sometime between 1500 and 1200 BC. Clever Greeks.
For ease of use, I’ll lump viruses, worms, Trojans, and other malicious script together under the label of malware.
Malware. Nasty, vile stuff. The bane of every computer user’s existence. But if they’re so bad, why are they written? Sometimes, they’re created by teenage or prepubescent boys looking for notoriety or thrills. Perhaps they’re just bored on a Saturday night stuck at home with no girlfriend and nothing more interesting to do. Or, they’re written for a purpose, such as to gain a backdoor into your computer to use it as a file-sharer, or to distribute spam or phishing email. Phishing – that email that looks like it’s from eBay or your bank, trying to redirect you to their own, phoney site, all in an effort to get your log-in ID so they can rob you blind. Yeah, that phishing. :p
So. What can you do to prevent an infection?
1. Install anti-virus software.
Norton (www.symantec.com), McAfee (www.mcafee.com), and AVG (www.free.grisoft.com) (free) have all had excellent reviews. This is the most important step in keeping your computer free from viruses.
2. Keep it up to date.
Set it to automatically update its virus definitions. Any anti-virus program with out-of-date antivirus definitions is next to useless when you consider there may be as many as 10 or 15 new ones a day!
3. Start up your anti-virus software automatically when Windows (or your operating system of choice) boots up.
If you’re like me, you forget everything, and without your anti-virus software, you aren’t protected. This is the best way to make sure it’s always running.
4. Automatically scan your removable media.
You could easily pick up a virus from an insecure system and infect your own computer. And you wouldn’t want that. So, whether it’s a floppy drive, a flash card, or USB jump drives, scan them. Yes, it’s a pain in the butt and feels inconvenient to spend all that time, but it’s much better than having to de-louse, er, de-infect your computer.
5. Automatically scan email as it downloads.
Because viruses are frequently transmitted via email, sometimes using the email address of the infected person’s computer, sometimes spoofing email headers, there is a huge risk of receiving viruses through email. Viruses are also sometimes send through spam, which just gives us one more reason to hate spammers.
6. Don’t use the preview pane in Outlook or Outlook Express.
If you do, you’re putting yourself at risk as viruses can be embedded in the body of the email itself. Bad. Very very bad.
7. Use a firewall.
Firewalls aren’t just about preventing hackers from getting into your computer from the outside, but also about malicious script, once in your system, from finding a way out. In other words, it prevents unauthorized internet traffic from entering or leaving your computer. One excellent choice for a software firewall is ZoneAlarm (www.zonelabs.com), free for personal use.
8. Use common sense.
Don’t matter that common sense isn’t that common. Cultivate it!
Don’t open attachments if you aren’t expecting them. Don’t download anything from the internet if you don’t trust the source – this goes for everything including games, screensavers, and freeware. And don’t turn off your anti-virus software just because you think it’s slowing down your system and driving you nuts. Live with it like the rest of us. *twitch*
9. Periodically scan your hard drive.
Something will get through. It’s just gonna happen. There’s a time lag between a virus is released and when the anti-virus definitions to combat them are written. During that lag, your computer is vulnerable. Scan your hard drive periodically, and you can still catch that pesky virus.
I’ve been on the internet since long before it was ever called the internet, and I’ve received, in that couple of decades or so, hundreds of viruses. Yet none of my computers have ever been infected. Why? Because I have my paranoia-meter set to maximum stun.
Those teenage boys living in their parent’s basement wearing Klingon suits doing nothing but writing computer viruses are NOT going to infect my computer! *twitch*
You can contact the author at laurie at laurieashton dot com or visit her website at http://www.laurieashton.com
