Anti-Virus
A virus is a computer program which can duplicate
itself and 'infect' other computers automatically and
can cause file deletion, system corruption and even
cause computers to be formatted. With 10 to 15 new viruses
discovered per day, the threat is growing exponentially
with leading anti virus firm McAfee stating that more
than 58,000 virus threats are currently in existence.
Viruses can be spread via any transferable media whether
in the form of floppy disks, CDs, email attachments
or in material downloaded from the Web. The most common
form of transfer is via email, in the form of an attachment
which, when opened, activate a virus and infect a computer.
Often, viruses are programmed to spread themselves by
emailing a copy of themselves to all the other email
addresses in an infected computer's address book.
How to avoid getting
a virus
The best way to avoid getting a computer virus is to
verify whether:
- The suspect files are virus-free. This can be checked
by using reputable anti virus software such as AVG
anti virus.
- The email sender is a trusted source who can confirm
that they sent you the attachment
- That the file format is not suspicious- common
dangerous files are .exe, .vbs, .scr and .pif files.
What if you believe you
already have a virus?
If you believe your computer has already been infected
you can run a free online virus check to detect this
by clicking HERE
and follow the steps in defining the location from which
you are currently connecting to the Internet and then
accepting the Trend Micro file download and scan.
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