CYBER NOTES by Dave Benore

…………..of Viruses, Worms, and Trojan Horses……….

Many people have heard of computer viruses but know little about them. Here is a little information that may help.

A computer virus is a small program written by an egotistical hacker that can do damage to your software if it gets into your computer. It seems that in the hacker world, writing viruses is a status thing with their peers. (With all their talent you would think they could do something worthwhile.) These little programs—viruses--are attached to other files like emails and Word documents. By opening an email or a Word document, one can “catch” the virus. Your computer gets it, you don’t! You can also get one by downloading a file or program from a web site that does not protect itself from viruses.

The viruses are written to be self replicating, hence the name “virus”. They spread from file to file, and from computer to computer. Depending on what the virus does, it could be rather innocuous, giving you only an irritating message. Or, it could be very destructive, erasing files on your hard disk! Some actually “read” your email address book and automatically send emails to everyone in it—without your knowledge! These emails then spread the virus.

Virus is a general name for all of these kinds of evil programs, but there are subcategories. They are: 1) Virus—a program that can only operate when you open a file that has a virus inserted into it, and it replicates itself; 2) Worm—a program that can operate without your opening the file that contains it, and it also replicates itself; 3) Trojan Horse—a program that causes something to happen but does not replicate itself. A Trojan Horse masks itself as something else, like the name implies. All of these subcategories can be vicious, attacking your computer’s files and spreading to other computers from yours, continuing the “infection”.

So how does one protect their computer? Buy and install anti-virus software. Norton’s and MacAffee’s are perhaps the best known nowadays. Their software detects thousands of variations of viruses, and removes them from your files before they can do damage. The software can also examine every email coming into or going out of your computer. If it finds a virus it stops it and removes it, or sometimes quarantines the files so they cannot do damage. In this case the software notifies you of the action taken. You can then manually erase the file without opening it.

But just buying the latest version is not good enough—it must be kept up to date! New viruses are being written every day! The anti-virus software folks detect new ones every week. They then write new anti-virus detection and removal software and make it available on the web (the internet). Usually you get to download free updates to the anti-virus software for some extended period, after which you must subscribe to the service at a nominal cost per year. This is a very good idea! Instructions on how to do this come with the anti-virus software.

Computer viruses do a lot of damage and cost our economy a frightful sum of money each year. It is best for all of us to use anti-virus software if you use the internet. We all must do our part to stop the spread of these damaging little programs. If you ever get one, you will certainly wish the sender had used anti-virus software! Good Luck!