|
With over 500 new viruses
discovered every month, it is extremely important to be kept
up to date with the latest virus activity.
On this page you will
find a live update of the latest 5 viruses doing the rounds
(see left) and also tips and techniques to help prevent the
spread of viruses through your computer systems.
Things to look out for:
If you get an e-mail attachment from
an unknown source, do not open the attachment. Look
out for things like irrelevant or unexpected subject matter,
bad English and impersonal greetings.
Also, be aware of hoax viruses. These
are e-mails with no attachments but can be just as destructive
since they suggest, for example, that a Windows System file
is a virus and must be deleted. Deleting the file mentioned
could cause irreparable damage to your operating system. Simply
delete these e-mails and certainly do not forward them on.
GIFs, JPEGs and other picture files
cannot harbour viruses themselves, but look out for double
file extensions. These are viruses trying to disguise themselves
as harmless files. Look for filenames such as: picture.gif.vbs
or picture.jpg.vbs. There is absolutely no reason why you
should receive files in this form since they have no use.
Delete them.
Be careful when downloading files
form the Internet, make sure that the file is coming form
a reputable website. If you must download it anyway, Download
it directly to a floppy disk and check the file first with
your own virus checking software.
Check you have the latest update
of your antivirus software installed to ensure the latest
virus definitions are installed, and run a scan once updated.
Backup your work regularly so that
if a virus does destroy your files, you can revert to the
backup.
Remember that viruses don't only get distributed via e-mail,
they can be brought in on disks etc from employees working
from home or from clients. Always scan 'alien' disks before
extracting any information from them to ensure they are not
infected.
|
