One of the saddest things in the entire world is hearing the words, "I think
I've been hit by a virus" or "my computer was destroyed by a virus, can you
help me please?"
Every time I hear these words I want to cry - well, actually I want to
scream in frustration and a little bit of anger. You see, it's not hard to
protect your system from destruction by any one of the fifty thousand or
more viruses out in the wild. In fact, it's so simple that it's pitiful that
anyone gets caught "with their pants down" more than once in his or her
lives.
By this time it's inconceivable that anyone with any contact with
civilization is ignorant of viruses and their destructive potential. A few
years ago you could claim ignorance (what's a virus?) but no longer. In
these years after "I love you" and "Melissa", well, virus attacks appear on
the 6 o'clock news at least once a week and in the newspaper just as often.
That's one of the reasons why I groan when I hear that someone has lost
their system to a virus attack. They cannot claim that they didn't know or
didn't understand. In addition, protection is so simple and cheap that no
one can use the excuse of "it's too expensive" or "it's too difficult".
Sorry, that just does not hold water.
Look at it this way - if someone is surfing the internet they must be paying
for a connection (say twenty dollars a month) and they have to have a
computer (perhaps a thousand dollars). It's hard to accept that they cannot
afford another thirty or fifty bucks for virus protection (in fact, many new
computers come with an antivirus program pre-installed).
All right, preaching aside, what's the best way to protect your system from
virus attacks? To begin with, assume that you or someone who uses your
computer might make a mistake and plan for the worst. In other words, make
the assumption that if a virus is received, it will be executed, so make
sure the things are removed or rendered harmless before you see them.
Backup is a Must
Define and follow a good backup plan - First and foremost, figure out how
you are going to back up your data. Didn't expect me to say that, did you?
You have to understand that no virus protection system is perfect. If a
virus does get through somehow, then you must be prepared to restore your
data and files from a backup (Backup Software)
.
It does not matter if you hand copy your critical files to a floppy disk
every night or if you have the most advanced optical or tape backup system
available. If nothing else, get a cheap ZIP drive plug it in and use the
backup software that comes with it (you can get this setup for around a
hundred bucks).
Don't even think twice about this - if you don't have a backup solution then
get one, NOW. If you are not keeping a backup then you are living on
borrowed time (this also protects you from system failures, hackers and
other dangers as well). ALL good security plans begin and end with the
backup and restore strategy.
AntiVirus
Choose, install and maintain an antivirus solution - Personally, I really
like the Norton Antivirus program (Other Choices)
. I've installed it in our office and in my
home, and I have not yet found a better program anywhere.
There is far more to an antivirus program than just checking for viruses.
All of them do that. What Norton does that's different is very important -
it also scans incoming emails for viruses so they are removed even before
you open the message.
Schedule virus updates at least once a week - More importantly, you can
schedule virus updates to occur at regular (weekly) intervals. This is
extremely important. Your virus definitions MUST BE UPDATED AT LEAST ONCE A
WEEK. Otherwise, your protection slowly loses it's power to protect your
system. This is almost as bad as not having any protection at all - because
you think you are protected and you are not.
Scan your hard drive as often as possible - Use your virus scanning program
to scan your hard drive for viruses on a regular basis. I've scheduled mine
to scan every night while I sleep (the computer is not doing much else at
that time, after all). This way any viruses that do slip through your
defenses should be caught.
Outlook Security
If you run Outlook, then download and install the Outlook Security patch
(unless for some reason you want to use email scripting, which you probably
only need if you are a developer). This will prevent you or anyone on your
computer from accidentally opening an attachment which is actually a virus.
Firewall
Install ZoneAlarm Pro - Not only is ZoneAlarm Pro an excellent firewall, it
is also a virus scanner (Get a Firewall) . It actually scans files as they arrive on your
system and tags suspected viruses with a special file type. This will
prevent you from accidentally opening an email attachment that is a virus.
Keep Informed
Subscribe to several newsletters about viruses - It's important to become
aware of viruses and the associated problems and risks. Most antivirus companies have free newsletters you can subscribe to.
If you take the above steps, you will no longer be a helpless victim at the hands of those malicious programs determined to do you harm.
