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Anti-Virus Spotlight Viruses can be detrimental to your home computer or business. The first step to fighting viruses on your machines is to become educated. Some critical facts to consider: You can receive email viruses from people that you know and trust – primarily because many viruses are sent via the address book on the infected computer. So, the person who has sent that worm or virus to you may not even know it! Your system CAN be infected with a virus even though you have installed anti-virus software and you update your software regularly. You can receive a virus through your email program even if you haven’t opened an attachment. An email does not have to contain an attachment to contain a virus. Email isn’t the only way that a virus can infect your system. Viruses are sent through the web, on a floppy disc, via FTP (file transfer protocol), through chat clients, and even by visiting web pages.
What should you do? 1 – READ and educate yourself. It is very important that you educate yourself about viruses and the damage that they can do to your system. Anti-virus research centers update their websites daily. So all the new virus news, software updates, protection methods, and removal tools can almost always be found on the web. We recommend the following for up-to-date virus information:
http://www.symantec.net 2 – Obtain anti-virus software TODAY. Do not take for granted the current state of your systems. One email can damage all of your important files or compromise the security of your entire network if you are unprotected. Get anti-virus software that will scan floppy disks, email attachments, and web downloads. 3 – Update your anti-virus definition files (DAT files) weekly at minimum. Scan your hard drive often, even daily if possible. Bookmark the virus information web sites above. Over 500 new viruses are discovered each month, so check these sites regularly. 4 – DO NOT open email attachments that you are not expecting – even if they come from someone you know. Don’t let curiosity get the best of you – delete that attachment. Opening that joke or watching those elves bowl are not worth reformatting your computer. 5 – Disable the Preview Pane in your email client. With Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express, previewing an email message may be enough to infect your system with a worm/virus. If you need help doing this, please contact Nauticom Technical Support. We’d be glad to offer assistance. 6 - Exercise caution when downloading files from the Internet. Ensure that the source is a legitimate and reputable one. Verify that an anti-virus program checks the files on the download site. If you're uncertain, don't download the file at all or download the file to a floppy and test it with your own anti-virus software. 7 – Install security patches recommended by Microsoft – http://www.microsoft.com Run Windows Updates. This is especially important for the business environment.
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com Nauticom offers information and direction with regards to virus protection and removal, however we will not assist with specific program software, installation of software, editing the Windows registry when necessary, or with any PC issues resulting from infection and/or removal. Most anti-virus software will include a manual for installation and support. Typically support by the manufacturer includes both web-based and email assistance. |