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Do you have protection?
Posted by Neil on September 3rd, 2004
This isn’t about diving, or the G&L community, I know, and I know I’ve harped on about this before, but…
Some of the people who receive an email notification about this message have PCs which are infected by Viruses. How do I know? Well, I’ve started getting viruses sent back to the address that these emails are sent from. Since the address is not one which is advertised anywhere on the web, the viruses must be being sent from someone who has received one of these emails, and therefore has this address on their PC.
Unfortunately, since the virus disguises the sender’s address, it’s virtually impossible to find out exactly where it’s come from.
If you already have a virus checker installed, and you keep the virus definitions updated regularly, and you schedule regular scans of your system disk, then congratulations! You can stop reading here! If not, read on…
There’s really no excuse for not having a virus checker on your PC. If you can’t afford one of the commercial ones like Norton Antivirus or McAfee VirusScan, then have a look at AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition. That’s right, it won’t cost you a penny!
Secondly, having installed your shiny new virus checker, don’t let it gather dust! A virus checker is only as good as its virus definitions. These are updated at least weekly. All three of the above programs have an “automatic update” facility, that will download the latest definitions at regular intervals.
Finally, it’s a good idea to schedule a complete check of your system disk at least once a month, just to make sure that nothing’s crept in between updates.
I know that downloading new virus definitions every week takes time and (if you’re not on a flat rate package) money, but compared to the cost of recovering a trashed computer, or having your online bank details stolen by a virus, it’s a small price to pay!
Plus, without up-to-date virus protection you run the risk of infecting anyone whose email address is stored anywhere on your computer (not just in your address book).
If you need any further advice about combating Viruses, feel free to contact me, by clicking the “Contact” link in the menu on the left.
Neil.
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