Question: A few weeks ago there were several warnings about the Blackworm virus (also known as Nyxem.E, Blackdoom, Kama Sutra, or MyWife) infecting computers and wiping out many different file types. I’m usually very cautious about opening email attachments or clicking unknown links. Could I still be at risk and what steps should I take to protect myself?
Answer: With a new virus threat happening on a daily basis, it is very important to take steps to protect your computer. The majority of viruses are spread through email attachments. By not opening these attachments you are taking the first step to protecting your computer.
However if you’re like me, your friends will often email you attachments that contain funny stories, pictures or chain letters. Most viruses are disguised to appear as harmless attachments from your friends or colleagues. If you think an email is from somebody you know, you are more likely to open an attachment – and thereby activating the virus. Many viruses ’steal’ e-mail addresses from a person’s address book, and then send themselves to all those addresses. Therefore you or your friends may be sending out a virus without even knowing it. Even if they did send out an email with an attachment, you might still be at risk if they are not good about running Anti-Virus scans or careful about what they download.
Another way viruses can attack your computer is through downloads from the Internet. If you must download a program from the Internet be sure you are doing it from a reputable site. The threat is not only from software. Viruses can attach themselves to files such as Word documents too. Don’t download Word documents or other non-HTML files that have something other than .txt, .jpeg, .gif, .bmp, .tif, .mp3, or .avi. extensions. Always scan downloaded Internet files for viruses before opening or double-clicking them.
Even if you don’t have an internet connection and you don’t use email, you still could be at risk of a virus infecting your computer. If somebody wants to share a file with you, they might give you a CD or flash drive with a Word document or similar file, which you can copy onto your machine. However if that file was originally copied from an infected computer, you might just have accidentally infected your own computer.
The following are steps you can take to protect your computer from becoming infected with a virus.
- Email: If someone sends you a picture, text or sound file (these attachments end in the extensions .txt, .jpeg, .gif, .bmp, .tif, .mp3, .htm, .html, and .avi), you are probably safe. Keep the following in mind when dealing with email attachments:
- Do not open unexpected files received by email
- Do not open any files received by email with the following extension names at the end of the file name: .vbs, .bat, .exe, .pif, .com, .src or endings you are not accustomed to receiving
- Do not open files that end with two extension names (example: image.jpg.vb).
- If you think the attachment is OK, first save it to a separate folder, then run a virus check.
- Downloads: Never install software that comes via an email or web page pop-up. It’s probably dangerous. Do not download anything from the Internet unless you are sure it is a reputable site.
- Anti-virus Software: There are several commercial programs that offer virus protection available on the market. These programs act as a defense against viruses when they first try to infect your computer AND afterwards if one gets into your system. Virus protection programs will identify which virus is present, try to clean or quarantine the infected files and prevent the virus from doing any more damage. You may also want to consider a firewall and run an anti-spyware program. Below is a list of paid and free anti-virus services.
*Note: Staples has offered a special on McAfee and Norton Anti-Virus programs when purchasing Turbo Tax or Tax Cut. Through my Turbo Tax purchase and my Norton Internet Security upgrade I was able to get Norton Internet Security 2006 for free. Other stores will offer similar specials. Look through your sales ads when you are thinking about purchasing anti-virus software.
- Back-up Your Files: It is good practice to back up all your files and programs anyway. Computers have been known to crash for many reasons rather than just viruses. With regular back-ups you can avoid much of the hassle of restoring your computer when a catastrophe strikes.
- Check for Updates: When using Windows and Internet Explorer it is always important to check for updates or patches. You can set up your Windows Update to automatically download these for both the operating system and Internet Explorer. Even better would be to switch to a more secure web browser such as Firefox or Opera.
I have only briefly touched upon ways for you to protect your computer against viruses. There is a lot of information out there on this topic. A great place to start if you would like more information about viruses, how they work and how to protect your computer is http://computer.howstuffworks.com/virus.htm. They give a lot more information on this topic.
–Carrie Albin, Outreach Coordinator and Co-Editor
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