Viruses! What Can You Do?

Ok, so you have good anti-virus software installed on your computer. You also followed the recommendation of your computer guy and had him\her put in a firewall to help prevent unwanted external traffic. However, these pesky viruses just don’t seem to stop. Just why that is, you ask? Well, the short of it is that those smarty pants hackers just won’t stop, and the long of it is that those smarty pants hackers just won’t stop. Yep, they don’t have much better to do than to wreak havoc on as many computers as they can. So, what can you do to prevent your computer or business from being the next victim? Along with following the suggestions in the last post, there are other precautions that can be taken.

First, let’s consider a popular carrier of virus and spyware that we use everyday – email. Surely, you have received tons of email that is just absolute junk. Just like the junk mail you get in your physical mail box outside your home, you just don’t need it. But unlike the paper mail you receive in your mailbox at home, opening up an email that is unknown can be extremely detrimental. Be extremely cautious about what email you open, as well as any attachments that accompany an email that you don’t know where has originated. Subject lines in these emails seem really enticing, even seemingly legitimate. However, when opened there lies an invisible trap that can, at minimum, cause harm to your computer. Keep your eyes wide open and think smart when it comes to email.

Secondly, there are so many avenues on the internet for these evil techies to pounce on your computer. Have you ever been to a website and at that website there begins a slideshow of nothing but pop-ups? Here again, use caution. Traditionally, pop-ups were designed to gain your attention and a means to get you as the end user to click and see what this curious information is about. However, times have changed a bit. It would be safer to ignore such pop-ups, especially if you are unsure of the content, than it would be to get ‘click happy’. The end result could be disastrous. Do not hang out in sites like this.

So, while there is no 100% full proof way to get rid of all virus attacks or spam, there are ways that you can help in preventing these viruses from jumping on-board your computer system.

Lou Everett

Network Technician

b2Networx, Inc.
www.b2networx.com