All of the following can be dealt with by having the relevant secutiry software installed and kept upto date
VIRUS:
A dangerous computer program with the ability to modify other programs usually
to the determent of the computer system. Characteristic feature of being
It (they) are usually able to generate copies of its self and therefor spreading
its self by the internet and through removable disks. Most computer viruses
have a destructive payload that is activated under certain conditions. Please
note "a true virus cannot spread to another computer without human assistance"
In the English language, the normal plural of virus is viruses.
Anti-Virus: A software program that deals with the above. (See my security page for FREE downloads)
Worm:
A computer worm is a self-replicating program, similar to a computer virus.
A virus attaches itself to, and becomes part of, another executable program.
A worm though is self-contained and does not need to be part of another
program to propagate itself.
Trojan:
Similar to a virus, although it does not replicate itself. It is something
which is hidden in a file and, when activated, it does terrible damage.
Trojans are small programs (often malicious) that install themselves and
run without your knowledge or permissionon on your computer. They do not
usually install or run automatically. The user is usually enticed users
into installing or executing by it masquerading as another program altogether
(such as a game or a patch) or they may be packaged with hacked (pirated?)
programs that install the trojan when the host program is executed They
can also allow another person elsewhere on the internet to make use of your
computer An example is a program called AOL4FREE.COM this file should
NOT be downloaded to your system by any mean. They can aslo wipe
out the contents of your hard drive, hence another reason for keeping upto
date backups. Once your computer becomes infected by the worm or virus,
it can be very difficult to repair the damage. "avi, .exe, or even
.jpg" are just some of the file types that trojans come embeded
in. So be careful about what you download from the Internet and from where
you get it.These were obviously named after the Trojan Horse.
Anti-Trojan: A program that deals with the above
Phishing:
Is the act of tricking someone into giving them confidential information
or tricking them into doing something that they normally wouldn’t do or
shouldn’t do. For example: sending an e-mail to a user falsely claiming
to be an established legitimate enterprise in an attempt to scam the user
into surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft.
If you recieve an e-mail form someone (your bank for example) asking
you to confirm your details - username and password etc. - ALWAYS double
check with the relevant company/person before parting with this type of
information. Banks etc. almost never (In fact I would say they NEVER)
ever ask oyu to confirm your personal details in this way.
SPAM:
Spam is electronic junk mail or junk newsgroup postings. Some people define
spam even more generally as any unsolicited e-mail. In addition to being
a nuisance, spam also eats up a lot of network bandwidth. Because the Internet
is a public network, little can be done to prevent spam, just as it is impossible
to prevent junk (snail - postal) mail. However, the use of software filters
in e-mail programs can be used to remove most spam sent through e-mail,
or you can use a program similar to "Mailwasher" to stop these
mails from reching your computer. Some companies send out these mass mailings
after they (or companies who specialise in this practice) have harvested
mail addresses from the Internet. A lot of viruses and phishing attempts
are also sent this way. So NEVER open up an e-mail - especially if
it has an attachment - unless oyu know exactly who it is from. I
have a folder sitting on my desktop speciffically for mails with attachments
and that I recieve and from people I do not know or a I am unsure about.I
then drag all these mails into this folder and do an Anti-Virus and Anti-Trojan
scan on them before I even contemplate opening them.If oyu want to checkout
the contents of an e-mail but don't want to actually open it do the following:
1. RIGHT CLICK the desired mail and select PROPERTIES
2. Next select DETAILS
3. Now go to MESSAGE SOURCE.
This will alow you to scroll through the mail and normally let you see the
contents of it.
Rootkit:
A rootkit is a set of software tools normally used by a third party (usually
an intruder) after gaining access to a computer system. These are designed
to conceal themselves and their running processes, files or system data,
which will help an intruder gain access to a computer without the user's
knowledge. An example of a rootkit is the controversial aspect of the 2005
Sony CD copy protection. You need a specialised tool for getting risd of
them, and in the majority of cases it is better to do a clean install of
the OS (operating system). Once again a good reason for keeping oyur backups
upto date.
Pop-ups (or sometimes Pop-unders):
These are (usually) small advertising pages that POP-UP when you vistit
a web-site. Sometimes they hide themselves by poping under the page on view
and you do see them until you close the web page down. The majority of BROWSERS
(a program that allows oyu to surf the Internet - Opera & Firefox are
a couple of examples) now have a built in facility ot block these. You can
also get a (freeware or paid for) program that will allow oyu to control
and stop these as well.
Spyware:
Software that secretly gathers user information through the user's Internet
connection without his or her knowledge, usually for advertising purposes.
Spyware applications are sometimes bundled as a hidden component of freeware
or shareware programs that are downloaded from the Internet.vBut, it should
be noted that the majority of shareware and freeware downloads do not come
with spyware. Once installed, the spyware monitors user activity on the
Internet and transmits that information in the background to someone else.
Spyware can also gather information about e-mail addresses and even passwords
and credit card numbers. Spyware is similar to a Trojan horse in that users
unwittingly install the product when they install something else. A common
way to become a victim of spyware is to download certain peer-to-peer file
swapping products that are available today. This can be controlled and stopped
by the installation of a good Anti-Spyware program (Ad-Aware (made by LAVASOFT
is good example of this type of program and it is also freeware)
Anti-Spyware: A program that deals with the above
If you are uncertain about dealing with any of these
nuciances ask for help. There are a lot of very good forums on the internet
that will freely give you the help and advice for getting rid of them if
you ever beconme infected.
A good example of a forum is www.PC Guide.com/forums
Files In Email To Be Wary Off
If you get an EXE file (an executable program) in an email, you will want
to think twice before opening it. EXE files are at highest risk to contain
viruses.
Never display your E-mail address openly in any forum, as this will leave oyu open to abuse. If possible open up a WEB (similar to HOTMAIL) based mail account and use this in the forum(s)