What is a computer virus? What is best practice virus protection?
If you're running Antivirus 2008 or 2007 then you're effectively not getting any virus protection. The worst part is that 2009 viruses are considerably worse than 2008's.
Viruses are computer programs that download onto your computer unwittingly. To download a virus there needs to be an execution of a file that houses the virus. Amazingly, people that write computer viruses can spend months on the code. One is known to include 14,000 lines of hard core code, it would take the same time to walk the Birdsville Track!
In early 2008 the number of viruses detected globally hit 1 million. The virus family includes worms, trojans, rootkits, backdoors, spyware, adware. Amazingly, only about 50 viruses exist on Apple computers! Most of us however are committed to the Windows operating system so it's best we consider in detail how viruses exploit Windows, what they do when they get there and how to remove viruses from your PC.
Viruses get onto your computer in three ways: Via downloads, via email or via storage (e.g. USB keys, external hard drives). Downloads may include downloading files from peer to peer networks or downloading any old document sent by a mate or colleague or downloading a PDF off the net.
Regarding email, the preview pane in Outlook has been exploited by several viruses in the past so that you don't even have to open the email and you can get hit. Sometimes you may open an attachment where the file name looks legitimate but they have hidden the actual file name (e.g. so you can't see it ends with ".exe"), or they are scripts hiding inside simple .txt files (i.e. text or notepad files where you'd be expected to jot down your shopping list).
Equally pernicious are computer viruses called "drive by downloads" that execute when you simply visit a web page. Viruses get you to that page by fluke (you may type the wrong domain into a browser) or by clicking on a link in a spam email. This is sometimes tough to detect as the sender may even seem to be a friend (whose computer is infected). It's due to the spontaneity of a virus presenting itself to users that Windows Vista asks you permission for just about everything whereas the older Windows XP allows programs to execute without prompting.
Once launched a virus copies itself onto your computer, some seek to spread through emails that you never see and some hide themselves for a while to escape detection. Virus detection is done by antivirus companies through the compilation of a database of known virus signatures. Virus signatures are code changes that can be detected in the computer's memory. This is the most common method used by antivirus software companies but it requires users to keep their software up to date - the computer needs regular scans to keep the signature database up to date and the software itself needs to be updated to perform the clean up more effectively.
Here's what you can do to limit the spread of viruses:
Computer manufacturers have long been incentivised to drive down the cost of ongoing care and maintenance. To this aim they typically seek to partner with the leading antivirus products available from Symantec the parent company of Norton.
Viruses are computer programs that download onto your computer unwittingly. To download a virus there needs to be an execution of a file that houses the virus. Amazingly, people that write computer viruses can spend months on the code. One is known to include 14,000 lines of hard core code, it would take the same time to walk the Birdsville Track!
In early 2008 the number of viruses detected globally hit 1 million. The virus family includes worms, trojans, rootkits, backdoors, spyware, adware. Amazingly, only about 50 viruses exist on Apple computers! Most of us however are committed to the Windows operating system so it's best we consider in detail how viruses exploit Windows, what they do when they get there and how to remove viruses from your PC.
Viruses get onto your computer in three ways: Via downloads, via email or via storage (e.g. USB keys, external hard drives). Downloads may include downloading files from peer to peer networks or downloading any old document sent by a mate or colleague or downloading a PDF off the net.
Regarding email, the preview pane in Outlook has been exploited by several viruses in the past so that you don't even have to open the email and you can get hit. Sometimes you may open an attachment where the file name looks legitimate but they have hidden the actual file name (e.g. so you can't see it ends with ".exe"), or they are scripts hiding inside simple .txt files (i.e. text or notepad files where you'd be expected to jot down your shopping list).
Equally pernicious are computer viruses called "drive by downloads" that execute when you simply visit a web page. Viruses get you to that page by fluke (you may type the wrong domain into a browser) or by clicking on a link in a spam email. This is sometimes tough to detect as the sender may even seem to be a friend (whose computer is infected). It's due to the spontaneity of a virus presenting itself to users that Windows Vista asks you permission for just about everything whereas the older Windows XP allows programs to execute without prompting.
Once launched a virus copies itself onto your computer, some seek to spread through emails that you never see and some hide themselves for a while to escape detection. Virus detection is done by antivirus companies through the compilation of a database of known virus signatures. Virus signatures are code changes that can be detected in the computer's memory. This is the most common method used by antivirus software companies but it requires users to keep their software up to date - the computer needs regular scans to keep the signature database up to date and the software itself needs to be updated to perform the clean up more effectively.
Here's what you can do to limit the spread of viruses:
- Update your antivirus software to the latest version available.
- Include an email signature warning of the dangers of opening attachments.
- Use firewall software
- Use backup software
Computer manufacturers have long been incentivised to drive down the cost of ongoing care and maintenance. To this aim they typically seek to partner with the leading antivirus products available from Symantec the parent company of Norton.
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Norton Antivirus 2009 |
Norton Internet Security 2009 |
Norton 360 |