Why you should have Anti-virus Software on your Computer

[Linda from Murton]

Why you should have Anti-virus Software on your Computer

Please don’t think that I am trying to teach my grandmother how to suck eggs but I thought that I would try and outline my understanding of the nasties that can get onto your computer and how to protect yourself. I feel sure that that majority of you know about virus etc. but maybe the following explanations might help you.

Virus are programs which interfere with how your computer works. The most common way to get a virus is from an infected attachment which has been sent to you via e-mail. They stop your computer from working properly.

The best way to prevent getting a virus is to have Anti-virus software on your computer. Either the bought software such as Norton or McAfee or the free ones such as AVG or Avast.

Avast web page http://www.avast.com/en-gb/index
AVG web page http://free.avg.com/gb-en/homepage


You should not have more than one type of Anti-virus software on your computer. To do so can cause extra problems when conflicts occur. You should also remember to keep the software up to date with the latest virus definitions. Avast regularly updates itself (that’s why I like it)

It is asking for trouble to access the internet without having anti-virus software installed. You are not being fair to your friends/contacts on the internet by not having anti-virus software because unintentionally you can (and more likely will) pass on any virus you catch to their computer. These programs can and do link into your address book to send their own e-mails with the virus from your computer to all in your e-mail address book.

Firewall - my understanding is a firewall on your computer will prevent other computers accessing yours. If you have a router it probably has an inbuilt firewall. The latest operating systems from Microsoft, Vista and Windows 7 have firewalls inbuilt.

A good firewall will prevent incoming dangerous data, and programs on your computer accessing the internet without your permission. I use the Sunbelt Personal Firewall. Zone Alarm used to be very good.

Worms A computer worm is a type of virus that grows by itself to take up all the memory or hard drive space on your machine. They slow your computer down to a standstill. This is another reason why you should have anti-virus software on your computer. The av software will detect and eradicate this type of virus.


Trojans are software programs that look like ordinary programs, like games. But if you run them they can do real damage to your computer.

For example, a Trojan might appear to be a computer game, but once you double-click it, the program starts interfering with your hard drive, corrupting your data. Most antivirus programs can catch trojans when scanning for viruses.

As a rule, don't open a program unless you know it is ok. This applies especially to e-mail attachments that are executable files. (file extension .exe). It’s a good idea to check attachments with your anti-virus software before you open them, even if you are pretty sure the attachment is OK

Malware – although malware is linked to virus, worms and trojans I have always associated it with spyware. Spyware gathers information from your computer without you even knowing it. Things like web pages you have visited and even personal information like bank account details and credit card numbers. The information is gathered up and sent off to whoever put the spyware on your computer.

This is another reason to have anti-virus software on your computer. But there is some spyware that can get past your anti-virus. There is a special piece of software from Malwarebytes which if you download and update will let you scan your computer for spyware and malware and deal with it. You can get a free version from http://www.malwarebytes.org/


I hope this information is of help. Oh before I forget. Its also a good idea to backup your data, photos, music, gedcom files, documents etc. to an external media. I like to use DVD’s and CD’s. That way if the worst happens and you have to reformat your computer because it has gone belly up with virus etc. you have your data copied and safe to reinstall.

I hope I haven't scared anyone with all this security stuff, but better safe than sorry.

Kind regards - Linda

[Margaret N]

Linda,

A good article but one thing that bugs me are people who send emails to everyone in their address book by just pressing forward.
Two things happen - Firstly everyone they send to knows your address and it will probably go into their address book so when they get a virus you are at risk.
Secondly when you open one of these emails you have pages of other peoples email addresses before you get to the content that is intended for you to read.
What I do is email the person who creates this situation like a member in our family and tell them in 'strong words' to either remove my address from their contacts list of send the email to me only. This means that they have to 'Copy and Paste' it seperately to my address - not a big deal.
Very few people know my email address and I never give it out to shops or sales people I just say that it is not available.
Do not be afraid to refuse to give your email address to strangers. With luck it may help you stay safe but their will always be someone trying to get at us which is why we also need Anti-virus Software as Linda has explained.

[Guest]

ooh yes Margaret quite agree , I have a few people like that and it really winds me up when all they send is stupid jokes or emails you MUST pass on, I just delete them.

[Linda from Murton]

You hit the nail on the head Margaret. Val - you and I think alike the joke e-mail and the forward this to ten of your friends type otherwise ..... really get me too. My brother is the worst offender, pages and pages of e-mail addresses. Usually if I see fwd in the subject heading it gets deleted without being opened.

[Guest]

its very worrying as I already know of somebody who would use your info in the wrong way.

[col48]

Malware is more than spyware - it is usually used as a term to include viruses, trojans, spyware, - really anything which you don't want and never did want on your computer.

Windows, Apple and Linux

Windows is the operating system (o/s) for 95% of computers (give or take a few %) and is usually what is offered when buying a new machine. Apple have their own O/S and then there is a large family of Linux-based o/s. No o/s is totally safe from malware, but each o/s is not vulnerable to what can attack the others, so of course Windows is the o/s which viruses get written for because they can do the most damage globally there. Each o/s has its own philosophy of dealing with the threat from malware.

I believe no genuine viruses have been seen on Linux (the same may be true of Apple, but I am not an Apple user) but that is not because Linux is immune. Linux patches (mini updates) tend to occur much more frequently than Windows, which reduces the opportunities for exploiting vulnerabilities and so makes it less worthwhile for a virus writer. Advice from the experts is not unanimous, but most Linux advice seems to say Linux users do not benefit from anti-virus.

Incomplete Advice on avoiding the threat

All users should be prudent in the way they use the internet and email. For instance:
(a) If your internet search engine (eg google or yahoo) is one which warns you when a site may contain dangerous downloads, don't go on that site unless you KNOW it is safe. Even looking at the site you can download something undesirable.
(b) If you can have more than one email address, keep one for trusted friends. Only let businesses and other big organisations have one you are prepared to forget about. Some people use a different address for each organisation - this is not possible for most people.
(c) If you must give a company your email address, always tick the box which says please don't contact me with offers and please don't tell other "associated companies" my details. Be particularly wary if they process data abroad.
(d) Only open email attachments which have been through an anti-virus scan (ideally both yours and your ISP's, which are likely to be different). This also applies to CDs or DVDs which reach you by other means. If you can delay a day or two, so much the better - the originator may have been told of a problem in the meantime. Yes, I know life's too short to do this, but it is a matter of weighing up the risks.
(e) Never believe it if you get an unexpected email purporting to be from your bank or anyone you do business with which asks you for confidential information. Just delete the email (don't reply to it). Phone your bank if you are worried but don't use the number in the email.
(f) If you want to send an email to a large mailing list, send it to yourself and Bcc the mailing list. Bcc is just like cc but no recipient will see the list of addressees. This avoids everyone having pages and pages of these at the top and some of those folk might not want others to know their details in any case. You should send it to yourself because some email programs will not cope with having NO addressees.
(g) Make sure your File Browser - the program which shows you what files or documents are in each directory or folder on your computer - is set to show the full name, with the final extension (the part after the last '.'). I think some Browsers do not do this by default. This means that a file might appear to be an innocent .txt file (just text) when it is actually a program (innocent.txt.exe, for example). It is possible for a virus to be carried in an Excel or Word macro, although I think this is not common these days, so if the document type is not what you are expecting, check back with the sender (by phone if possible).
(h) If the email from the apparent sender makes you think "that's not like him/her", perhaps it isn't him or her. If their email address is on a computer which has been affected by a virus then it could be used to try to fool you as to who sent it because you are more likely to open an attachment from a friend than from a stranger. If you know how (it'll be in the menus of your email program) you can look at the full message headers which will give you an idea of where it is from - if it is really from your friend you should be able to see so.

[Linda from Murton]

Col48 - thank you for such a succinct expansion on the point I was trying to make, i.e. you really should have anti-virus software on your computer.