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Do you know how to protect yourself from viruses?

1. Update your OS and other programs updated.
2. Install Anti-Virus software and keep it updated.
3. Use Adware Removal software.
4. Use firewall and keep them updated. If you use a router with a firewall build in it, use that instead!
5. Keep your computer turned off when not in use. This makes it less useful as a tool to hackers.
6. Keep important files backed up to CD in case you need to restore them, and keep making backups once a month! (That’s what I always do!)
7. Create a strong password for all accounts on your computer especially for the administrator accounts.
8. Disable the guest account on your machine if it has one.
9. Disable File Printing and sharing for windows standalones.
10. Be wary of e-mails from people that you do not know. Never open attachments in e-mails that you are not expecting.
11. Turn off and remove unneeded services. By default, many operating systems install auxiliary services that are not critical, such as an FTP server, telnet, and a Web server. These services are avenues of attack. If they are removed, blended threats have less avenues of attack and you have fewer services to maintain through patch updates.
12. If possible, configure your email server to block or remove email that contains file attachments that are commonly used to spread viruses, such as .vbs, .bat, .exe, .pif and .scr files.

Most worm /virus’s have a nice way of saying that the virus couldn’t be deleted/found when you run a removal tool. If they really are there, this message will not be displayed when you do it the second time. Anyway, there is a way to test your anti virus scanner, click here to test yours!

Virus Nomenclature
Generally, the prefix of a virus identifies the platform it targets. Here is a list of what some common prefixes and what they mean:

• W32 - Viruses that target all 32-bit versions of Windows
• VBS - Viruses written in Visual Basic Script
• BAT - Batch file threats
• Backdoor - Threats allowing unauthorized access to computers on the Internet
• IRC - Threats that spread via IRC (Internet Relay Chat)
• JS - Attacks written in JavaScript
• Java - Attacks written in Java
• Linux - Attacks that target Linux-based systems
• OM - Office macro viruses
• PWSTEAL - Password-stealing Trojan horses
• Palm - Attacks that target Palm-based devices
• Trojan/Troj - Trojan horses
• Unix - Attacks that target Unix-based systems

Free Online Virus Scans
There are a number of websites that can scan your machine for viruses over the Internet as well as check files.

• HouseCall by Trend Micro
• Kaspersky Online file scan

Stress Busters
If you want to check if your computer can be hacked or has any security holes try the security analysis site: Shields -up!