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June 2000 Issue Don't Catch a Virus Protect Your Computer You've likely heard of the 'Love Letter' and 'Melissa' viruses in recent news. The following article will provide you with information and tools to get you started on protecting yourself from over 50,000 viruses and virus hoaxes that exist. What is a virus? A computer virus is a program designed to spread itself from one file to another. Viruses can be harmless or very destructive by deleting or corrupting files, compromising system security, degrading performance, and more. Viruses can spread to other computers through shared files, such as email attachments, document macros, server files, diskettes, and so on. Worms are similar to viruses, but are designed to spread from computer to computer over a network instead from file to file within an individual computer. Not unlike viruses and worms, Trojan horse programs can also cause significant damage. Trojan horses are files that disguise themselves as useful programs, such as a utility, but turn out to be malicious. For up to date information about viruses, please visit sites such as Symantec's Anti-Virus Research Center or McAfee's Virus Information Center. What is a virus hoax? A virus hoax is an email or newsgroup message that claims that a new virus has been created when it actually does not exist. Some examples include 'Infected Bananas', 'California Wobbler', and 'Bud Frogs Screensaver'. People who receive such messages often forward them onto to others, which ends up spreading the hoax. If you receive a virus warning message, do not pass it on. Instead, you can check if it is valid or not by visiting Web sites, such as Symantec's Virus Hoaxes, McAfee's Virus Hoax Center, or F-Secure's Hoax Warnings. How can I protect my computer? Install anti-virus software Keep your antivirus software updated with the latest virus definitions Repair or delete detected viruses on your system Practice safe computing, such as not opening or viewing unsolicited e-mail file attachments Do not automatically forward virus warnings as they are often hoaxes Scan files downloaded from the Internet before running them Back up your system