The Internet brings the world to your doorstep, but it also brings hoaxters, scam artists, and phishers. Without the right protection, your computer is subject to getting sick from a virus. Viruses come in these different shapes and forms.
E-mail virus: This kind of virus reproduces itself by going into the recipient's Address Book, taking down names, and e-mailing itself to tens or hundreds of people at once. It's important to remember that no virus can spread inside an e-mail message. Viruses travel by e-mail, but not inside messages -- they travel in files attached to e-mail messages.
Time bomb: This is a virus that is programmed to lie quietly in wait on a computer until the appointed hour, when it "explodes" and causes damage.
Trojan horse: This virus masquerades as one kind of program but is really another. The game you thought you downloaded turns out not to be a game at all, but a virus. Trojan horses travel on the Internet by stealth, not by reproducing themselves quickly like other viruses.
Worm: This is a virus that quickly makes copies of itself on many computers. Worms infect a security hole in a network, and when they are inside the network, quickly copy themselves from computer to computer. Code Red, the most notorious worm, copied itself to a quarter-million computers during one day in July 2001.
Viruses slow Internet traffic. They clog computer networks. They make computers run more slowly by tying up a computer's processor. They destroy important files. Always be on the alert for viruses, and make sure that antivirus software is installed on your computer.
Thanks for the info Christo.
Many worms and viruses crawl through internet explorer so make sure to use Firefox or Opera!
Microsoft made the Netscape browser irrelevant by integrating Internet Explorer so tightly into its operating system that it is almost impossible not to use IE. Like it or not, you invoke Internet Explorer when you use the Windows help system, Outlook, and many other Microsoft and third-party applications. Granted, it is in the best business interest of Microsoft to make it difficult to use anything but Internet Explorer. Microsoft successfully makes competing products irrelevant by integrating more and more of the services they provide into its operating system. But this approach creates a monster of inextricably interdependent services (which is, by definition, a monolithic system).
Interdependencies like these have two unfortunate cascading side effects. First, in a monolithic system, every flaw in a piece of that system is exposed through all of the services and applications that depend on that piece of the system. When Microsoft integrated Internet Explorer into the operating system, Microsoft created a system where any flaw in Internet Explorer could expose your Windows desktop to risks that go far beyond what you do with your browser. A single flaw in Internet Explorer is therefore exposed in countless other applications, many of which may use Internet Explorer in a way that is not obvious to the user, giving the user a false sense of security.
Putting the laughter into manslaughter
17 years ago
Putting the laughter into manslaughter
Level 10
Too many big words! lol
Seriously though, while it's true that their interdependency of modules leads to cracks in the architecture, and proliferation of bugs, it DOES make good business sense to do it the way they did.
I still think Bill is a sneaky businessman.
Wow, thanks for the interesting info Christo and tar.bz2! Although, I've more or less learnt the hard way on how to avoid viruses...
You just need to be careful what you download on the Internet and LANs! Having a fully updated Anti-Virus always helps and a Firewall of course! !cool
Ah gotta prctice mah stabbin'
17 years ago
Ah gotta prctice mah stabbin'
Level 10
good info! does anyone know of any free antivirus software that is around? i have Panda2007 on my main desktop but it slows down my laptop and i dont really want to have to pay again to get another piece of software if i can help it. !wave
A Very Good question Jame-ez.....gettit. lol
Putting the laughter into manslaughter
17 years ago
Putting the laughter into manslaughter
Level 10
Ah. Superduper ... apparently AVG isn't staying free.
You might want to point them somewhere else, like AntiVir.
My AVG keeps telling me that the expiry for the free version is approaching fast.
![Christo [PCD]](/thumb.php?src=%7Be_AVATAR%7Dupload%2Fap_1_newavav4.jpg&aw=100&ah=100)
