If you use your computer to communicate and exchange data with others, whether on a network or through other means, you’re at risk of infection from computer viruses. How do you know if you’ve been infected? Here are some of the common signs:
- Your system slows down suddenly.
- An unexpected message appears.
- You see unexpected activity on your computer.
- You want to go a particular web site, but the browser keeps sending to a different web site.
- Files or data are lost, corrupted or unexpectedly changed.
- Some files or data are unexpectedly sent via email.
- Programs function incorrectly or not at all.
What Might Be Causing the Problem?
- Virus --- Email viruses can be spread
through email attachment or embedded script. When you double click to
open an infected attachment, the virus starts spreading. It may send
copies of itself to everyone in your Outlook address book. It might
then start corrupting files on your computer.
- Worms --- Worms are programs with the
ability to copy themselves from one computer to another, and can
proliferate from a single copy incredibly fast. Worms don’t damage files on your computer, but
they may fill your disk and memory with spurious copies of themselves.
The major harm of worms is their ability to reproduce themselves and
spread, causing a domino effect of heavy network traffic that could
pull down the local network and the Internet as a whole.
- Trojans --- As the name
suggests, Trojans are programs that appear to be useful software,
but can compromise your computer security and cause damage. Trojans
typically spread when people are lured into opening an email
attachment because they think it comes from a legitimate source.
Trojans can also come in software that you download for free. Some common uses of Trojan horse programs include invading
your financial data and online transaction records, making illicit
payments to their host and stealing security information.
- Spyware --- Again, as the name suggests, spyware is like a spy. Once downloaded to a user computer, it can steal your information and do things against your intension and without your consent. Most spyware are for profit-making. Some can redirect your Web page requests to commercial site for referral fees; others can collect your personal information from your computer and sell the information to others.
What Should You Do?
- Be careful in downloading from the
Internet or receiving files from others. Most virus, worms, and
Trojans are spread through Internet download and email attachments.
So, the most basic measure you should take to prevent virus, worms,
and Trojan is to be very careful in downloading from the Internet and
accepting files from email attachments. Virus, worms, Trojans, and
spyware can also come with download.
- Have an anti-virus software program
to protect again virus, worms, and Trojans. DSU has Norton Anti-Virus
to protect the system. You should check the virus data information
regularly and report to Computing Services if you find the virus data
not up to date. If you have computers at home, you should have
anti-virus software on those computers as well. A good anti-virus
program can keep watching the files you download and alert you when it
detects anything malicious or suspicious. In most cases, the program
will automatically clean the virus or worm or Trojan.
- Have anti-spyware such as
Microsoft AntiSpyware on your
computer and scan your system regularly to clean up. For further
information, read the Spyware
section.
- Have a firewall to protect
your computer against intrusion. DSU Network has a
firewall protecting the DSU Network. If you have Internet connection
at home, you should have a personal firewall on your computer. A
firewall is a program designed specifically to control communication
to and from your computer. It can prevent unauthorized access from the
Internet to your computer. Windows XP has a built-in firewall option.
For web browsing, Windows XP extends Internet Explorer with a pop-up
blocker and the ability to disable browser add-ons.
- Use Windows XP's auto update tool to get security patches from Microsoft. Do not disable the automatic update feature of your Windows XP. When Windows XP pops up a message asking you to update, do it as soon as possible.
Additional Resources
- Spyware Guide from Wikipedia --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spyware
- Spyware Guide --- http://www.spywareguide.com/
- Spyware Info --- http://www.spywareinfo.com/
Authors: DSU Web Support Team. Page last updated on 08/03/2005