One of the easiest things you can do to stay virus-free is to keep your copy of Microsoft Windows up-to-date via MS Windows Update. By having the latest updates, you are closing down known vulnerabilities.
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Latest virus definitions from Symantec for Norton AntiVirus HERE |
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For free virus information updates, and free real-time virus tracking, please click HERE. |
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To go straight to Symantec's (the Norton AntiVirus people) Security Response website, please click HERE. |
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To subscribe to the free Symantec Security Response newsletter, please click HERE. |
Nowadays it is essential to have antivirus software installed on your system. Viruses can get onto your system from any infected external source, including websites, floppy disks, CDs, emails, the internet, a network, a backup, software you have purchased, system restore, etcetera.
If you aren't sure of any of the answers to the above, please feel free to call Ian for assistance.
Newer versions of antivirus software are 'smarter' than older versions, and employ up-to-date techniques in detecting viruses on your system.
If the date of your virus definitions is more than a week ago, it is time to download the latest definitions. All the major antivirus software companies make available updates on a regular basis; typically there may be updates available every few days, or even daily. Ensure your antivirus software is set to update itself automatically (or at least remind you onscreen when it is time to update to the latest virus definitions).
Most of the newer antivirus packages available now scan your incoming emails before allowing them onto your system. This feature is highly desirable, as for most of us the commonest potential source of infection is incoming emails.
The below links may be of assistance to those wishing further information...please note that the free antivirus softwares listed below are usually for personal / home use, rather than for use in the workplace or by a company. For many home users though, they may be worth looking at as an alternative to a brand you have to purchase.
The software I use myself is Symantec's Norton Internet Security, which contains Norton AntiVirus as well as a firewall, etc. I have used Norton products since the mid 1980's. It updates itself automatically, scans emails before they land in your Inbox, and is easy to set-up and use.
avast! 4 Home Edition is now free of charge for home users on NON-COMMERCIAL computers. This one updates automatically also.
AntiVir® Personal Edition The private and individual use of the AntiVir Personal Edition is completely free of charge!
AVG Anti-Virus Their AVG Free Edition is now available for all single home users worldwide! More detailed information can be found in the AVG Free Edition License Agreement.
Symantec, makers of the Norton range Symantec, makers of the Norton AntiVirus range as well as many other products, security and otherwise.
Symantec Security Response Symantec's AntiVirus Research Centre - Virus & Hoax encyclopaedias. Great place to get information on viruses.
Symantec's Free Online Virus and Security Check. No antivirus software, and
think your system may be infected? This is the place to check. Symantec Security
Check is a free service designed to help you understand your computer's exposure
to online security intrusions and virus threats.
Symantec Security Response expanded tools list.
HOAXBUSTERS
- A public service of the CIAC Team and the U.S. Department of Energy. Interspersed
among the junk mail and spam that fills our Internet e-mail boxes are dire
warnings about devastating new viruses, Trojans that eat the heart out of your
system, and malicious software that can steal the computer right off your desk.
Added to that are messages about free money, children in trouble, and other
items designed to grab you and get you to forward the message to everyone you
know. Most all of these messages are hoaxes or chain letters. While hoaxes
do not automatically infect systems like a virus or Trojan, they are still time
consuming and costly to remove from all the systems where they exist. At CIAC,
we find that we spend much more time de-bunking hoaxes than handling real virus
and Trojan incidents. These pages describe some of the warnings, offers, and
pleas for help that are filling our mailboxes, clogging our mail servers, and
that generally do not have any basis in fact.
In addition to describing hoaxes and chain letters found on the Internet, we will discuss how to recognize hoaxes, what to do about them, and some of the history of hoaxes on the Internet.
Users are requested to please not spread chain letters and hoaxes by sending copies to everyone you know. Sending a copy of a cute message to one or two friends is not a problem but sending an unconfirmed warning or plea to everyone you know with the request that they also send it to everyone they know simply adds to the clutter already filling our mailboxes. If you receive any of this kind of mail, please don't pass it to everyone you know, either delete it or pass it to your computer security manager to validate. Validated warnings from the incident response teams and antivirus vendors have valid return addresses and are usually PGP signed with the organization's key. Alternately, you can and should get the warnings directly from the web pages of the organizations that put them out to insure that the information you have is valid and up-to-date.
VMyths.com Vmyths.com traces its roots to a "Computer Virus Myths treatise" first published in 1988. It later evolved into the critically acclaimed "Computer Virus Myths home page," and in 2000 it evolved into Vmyths.com. Its name has changed over the years, but Vmyths.com remains true to its original goal: the eradication of computer virus hysteria.
Vmyths.com doesn't sell a product or service -- we sell the truth about computer virus myths & hoaxes. We take no prisoners; we pull no punches.