CYBER NOTES December, 2004 by Dave Benore

I am getting so many viruses I could just scream!

Viruses, viruses, viruses—I am getting them in emails daily. What in the world is going on!

I am receiving several viruses a day in emails. Fortunately my anti-virus program, Norton Anti-virus, has been stopping them all, but I still have to deal with deleting them from the quarantine folder. So what is causing all of this virus activity? Well, here is the story…..

Of course, if the jerks who create the viruses didn’t write them, none of us would have a problem. But they do, so we have to find a way to defeat those cyber-terrorists. There is a way but it’s not always free. The way is to use anti-virus software to intercept and stop a virus as it comes to you.

Viruses are little programs you usually get from “infected” emails or attachments, or from “infected” files that you download from the web. They are insidious and they multiply. A virus can cause little or BIG problems for you. They can cause changes in how your computer works so that it works crazily, or not at all, or anything in between. They can even delete everything on your hard drive!

Good anti-virus software, if it’s properly set up, diagnoses every email and file that comes into your computer to see if a virus is present. If it is, the software quarantines the infected files if it cannot “clean “the file of the “infection”. Either way, your computer is protected. It also, and this is most important, looks at every email and file your computer sends out as well. If a virus is present it stops the transmission. By doing this you cannot spread the virus inadvertently. “Well”, you say,” I don’t send out any darn viruses!” However, your computer may be doing it without you knowing it! Here is how that works.

Many of today’s brands of viruses contain instructions that cause your computer, without you knowing about it, to send the virus on to everyone in your email address book! This happens simply by your computer becoming infected without you knowing it. The result, of course, is that the virus spreads like wildfire. But, if you have good anti-virus software running on your computer, it will stop any viruses from coming into your computer, or going out of it. So do your friends in your address book a huge favor—buy and use good anti-virus software. Please! (Norton Internet Security software has both a good anti-virus program and a good firewall program. Both are required to protect your computer. McAfee also makes good software to do the same.)

Firewall programs stop other types of vicious virus-like programs from entering your computer. They also stop your computer from sending out information you consider private, like your bank account number or your social security number, if you set the program to do so. My software has stopped my computer from sending out brokerage account numbers three times so far. I haven’t a clue what caused my computer to attempt to send out those numbers. (Clearly, identity theft can become a problem here.)

Many people have been told that as long as they do not open an email attachment they cannot get a virus. That used to be true but not for 4 or more years now. Just opening an email, not its attachment, can cause you to become infected. So—do not open any email from someone you do not know, or from source you have not solicited. Just delete it without opening it. (It’s probably junk mail--spam-- anyway.) This habit will help defeat the email virus problem. However, this can lead to another question.

For those who use Outlook Express for their emails, often there is a preview pane on the right side of the screen that shows a little of the email message when the cursor is placed on the email. If you can see any part of the message, the email has been opened and you can be infected! You do not have to open the full message. But, how do you delete the email then, without placing the cursor on the message and causing it to appear in the preview pane?

You must get rid of the preview pane so it will not be operational. This can be done by opening Outlook Express, right clicking on the toolbar (where the buttons are shown) causing a little menu to appear, then left clicking on customize. This in turn causes a dialog box to open where, on the left side, you can scroll down to find the “preview” icon. Left click on the icon and then left click on the “add” button. This will cause the “preview” button to appear on the right side of the dialog box. Click close.

This action will place the “preview” button on the toolbar when you are in the “inbox” looking at your emails. By clicking on the “preview” button you can turn the preview pane on or off. It’s a toggle function. Turn the preview pane off and leave it off forever. Now you can click on a message so you can delete it without its opening in the preview pane. You lose the preview feature but gain the ability to delete a message without opening it in the preview pane. This is very important in today’s virus environment.

If you use a different email program, other than Outlook Express, that has a preview pane, look in the help files for a procedure to turn off the preview pane. There should be a way to do that.

One last important thought. Your anti-virus program must be kept up to date. This is done by obtaining updates from the program creator’s website. If you do not update your anti-virus program at least every week, it will quickly become ineffective as new viruses come out almost weekly!

All of the above is not to scare you, but to make you aware of the situation today. The web is a marvelous tool for everyone. We just have to learn how to combat the crooks and the vandals out there.

Have a merry and joyous Christmas and a safe and happy New Year, everyone!