Use this link to the Adobe Reader pdf file with correct formatting.

 

Computer Viruses

What is a computer virus?

Malicious computer code meant to cause disruption to your computer.

Types of viruses.

Viruses attach themselves to programs or documents.

Worms send themselves around the internet.

Trojan horses appear to be cute screen savers or games, but are actually destructive.

How are the viruses spread?

Usually through email, in attachments such as documents and pictures.

What damage can the viruses do?

Email hundred’s of the victim’s personal files across the internet.

Email itself to other computers, often the friends of the victim.

Prevent programs from running on your computer.

Destroy all data.

Prevent your computer from booting (starting-up).

How much effort is required to eradicate a virus from my computer?

Thirty minutes to several hours. As much as several hundred dollars. You may have to bring or ship your computer to a repair facility.

How can I protect my computer against a virus?

Do safe computing by:

Use an antivirus program and update the virus definitions frequently.

Attachments: Don’t open attachments that you are not expecting.

File types: Don’t open files ending in .exe, .com, .bat, .vbs (Visual Basic Script), .bin, .dot, .reg, .js, .xlm, .pif and .scr (screensaver), but now also ending in .jpg (picture).

 

See the discussion of “safe computing” at the end of this newsletter.

 

Antivirus programs - paid

Symantec Norton AntiVirus and McAfee VirusScan have 95% of the anti-virus program market. With McAfee VirusScan, use version 6.02 instead of 6.0, because version 6.0 causes problems with some version of Windows operating systems. Both Norton AntiVirus and McAfee VirusScan use virus definitions and also check for computer code that takes actions typical of a virus.

 

Author’s comments: Norton AntiVirus has a much better user interface. The McAfee web site has a pop-up advertisement window that is aggravating.

 

Antivirus programs - free

Two free anti-virus programs are AVG and AntiVir.

Smart Computing Magazine, August, 2002, said this about free anti-virus programs:

  1. They have little or no technical support.
  2. Several free anti-virus programs have disappeared over recent years.
  3. They have slower virus definition updates than the paid programs
  4. They only use virus definitions, and don’t check for computer code that takes actions typical of a virus.
  5. AntiVir is slow to download, caused a system failure upon installation, and has most tech support in German.

 

Updating virus definitions

Every known virus has a unique set of computer code. This computer code is analyzed and given a definition. When your anti-virus program updates its virus definitions, it is adding definitions of new viruses, so when it scans for viruses on your computer, the scan will include recent viruses as well as all old viruses.  Having an anti-virus program without updating the definitions frequently is like having a car but never changing the oil; the car’s engine will die sooner than later, and your computer will get infected. If you don’t like those results then change the car’s oil frequently and update the virus definitions frequently.

 

This how to manually update the virus definitions in Norton AntiVirus:

  1. Open the Norton AntiVirus program by either right-clicking the icon in the system tray or by clicking on Start, then Programs, then Norton AntiVirus.

 

  1. Click on “Live Update”.

 

 

  1. Click on “next”.

 

 

  1. Click on “next”.

 

  1. Progress window for the virus updates:

 

 

 

 


  1. The virus updates are downloaded and installed. Click “finish”.

Scanning my computer for viruses

See this information on the FHF Computer Club web site:

 http://www.foxhillfarm.org/Groups/Computer/CC_Newsletters/Virus-scan.htm

 

Virus removal tools

http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/tools.list.html

 

How can I see if a file is a virus?

Use this Symantec web page for searching for virus information:

http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/vinfodb.html

 

Installing Norton AntiVirus

  1. Insert CD
  2. If it doesn’t automatically start, click on start/run/browse to setup.exe (usually on the D drive). OK
  3. Click on “Install Norton AntiVirus 2003”.
  4. Welcome. Click on Next..
  5. I accept. Click on Next.
  6. If a prior version is installed, it will be removed. Click on Next.
  7. Install location. Click on Next.
  8. Ready to install. Click on Next.
  9. Updating system.
  10. Readme. Click on Next.
  11. Successfully installed. Finish
  12. Must restart the system. Click on Yes. Leave the CD in the computer.
  13. Registration
  14. US. Click on Next.
  15. Contact options. Check only the box for “email”. Unclick the other options. Click on Next.
  16. First and last name. Me. Click on Next.
  17. Address and email. Click on Next.
  18. Survey. If you don’t want to participate in the survey, click “Click on Next.”.
  19. Register; internet. Make the internet connection. Click on Next.
  20. Write down your registration number. Click on Finish.
  21. Thank you for registering.
  22. Note the subscription expiration date. Click on Print. (Keep the printed page in the manual). Click on Next.
  23. Click “Yes, I’d like to use RapidRegistration”.
  24. Post install tasks.
    1. Leave “Run LiveUpdate” and “Scan all drives for viruses” checked.
    2. Unclick “Create a Rescue Disk Set” and “Schedule weekly scans of local hard drives”.
    3. Click on Next.
  25. The default option for LiveUpdate is “automatic”, so Norton AntiVirus will automatically check for updates to virus definitions and itself (the program).
  26. Summary. Click on Finish.
  27. Welcome to Live Update. Click on Next.
  28. Updates are found. Click on Next.
  29. Updates are being downloaded.
  30. Updates are being installed. Click on Finish.
  31. Remove the CD.
  32. Reboot is needed to finish the installation. Reboot the computer now. Click on OK.
  33. If the computer does not automatically reboot, you must manually reboot by clicking on Start, Shutdown, OK.
  34. Rebooting will take longer than normal, while the Norton AntiVirus files are being integrated into the operating system.
  35. Scan progress: scan for viruses. The number of scanned files will probably be over 40,000.
  36. Scan: summary. (Hopefully 0 files infected). Click on Finished.
  37. System status: OK. Close this window.

 

 

Symantec support:

800-927-3991      $29.95 per incident

900-646-0007   $2.95 per minute

 

 

This is a discussion of “safe computing” by  http://hoaxbusters.org/hoax4.html.

 

In the early days of computing, the main delivery source for malicious programs (viruses, worms, Trojan horses) was via file sharing – passing files around on disk or diskette. These days, e-mail is the vehicle of choice because this is the weakest link in the computer security chain. Infected programs are easily passed along as attachments to an e-mail message, and a simple click of the mouse is all that is required to start a devastating chain reaction, sometimes resulting in the complete destruction of all data stored on a hard drive.
 
These types of programs are known as executable programs. One has to actually cause the program to run to activate the malicious code within the program. You could compare this to running a copy of Word, or Quicken, or any other type of program that produces some kind of result. Typically, these executable programs end with the file extension of .exe, .com, .bat, .vbs (Visual Basic Script) and .scr (screensaver).
 
Virus writers take advantage of security flaws that are built right into these mail programs to deposit their evil little "worms." Most of these worms work the same way: it first infects your computer, then, exploiting the "flaws" within Outlook or Outlook Express, sends itself to everyone in your e-mail address book. Because all of this happens automatically, without the knowledge of the infected user, the infected file that you received will have appeared to have been sent to you specifically by your friend. It will appear to be a file that they really wanted you to have. You then activate the virus in your system by double clicking on the file, and the process begins all over again, with the infected file being sent from your computer, and so on, and so on, and so on. Now, because of certain Microsoft programming flaws, it is possible to become infected merely by looking at the message in the preview pane of Outlook or Outlook Express, with no further action required by the user.
 
There are literally thousands of computer viruses. Fortunately, most of these are not in circulation. In the parlance of the trade, these are known as being in the zoo. But when they are out on the Internet, being circulated in e-mail, they are known as being in the wild. Some of the viruses seen these days are actually worms. Generally, a worm will find its way into the user's address book and send a copy of itself to everyone in the address book. Remember the Melissa Virus? It was sending so many copies of itself that it literally shut down some big commercial systems. Some of the worms making the rounds these days are Pretty Park, Happy 99, My Pics, Freelink and Bubble Boy. Some of these worms are benign in nature, such as making a message pop up on a monitor screen. But some, like the recent Naked Wife virus, are very destructive, able to wipe out selected files, or an entire hard drive. Viruses are able to hide in files, in computer memory, or in the boot sector of a hard drive.
 
So what can one do to protect against contracting a computer virus? Practice safe computing! First and foremost, use an antivirus program. And for goodness sake, update the virus data file on a regular basis (weekly if possible). Always check programs downloaded from the Web with an antivirus program. Always check software borrowed from a friend (even if they say that it's virus free). Never open a program received via e-mail (this last piece of advice may upset some folks), even from someone that is known (the program could still be infected without the sender's knowledge).
 
Here is how to practice safe computing:
 

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER OPEN
ATTACHED EXECUTABLE FILES SENT TO YOU VIA E-MAIL!!!!!!

[Usually ending in .exe, .com, .bat, .vbs (Visual Basic Script) and .scr (screensaver), but now also ending in .jpg (picture).]