| we can
all protect our computers from viruses to a great extent.
use these
simple tips to prevent most infections:
1. never
open email attachments from someone you do not know. verify first with
the sender an attachement was sent.
2. only
download files from trusted sites. if you are unsure, do not download.
3. turn
off automatically running scripts in email.
4. do not
'preview' mail.
5. use text
only mail.
6. scan
your entire computer with the latest virus definitions weekly or more often.
7. scan
every file you download.
8. scan
floppy disks from another person prior to reading any of the files on it.
9. use your
ant-virus application to scan all email.
10. use
a good firewall, such as kerio.
11. do not
open email that may be spam. delete mail with strange subject lines or
from names.
12. delete
all forwarded warnings of a virus or other security risk.
a further
note on forwarded warnings: these warnings are usually scare tactics. use
common sense here, as in other areas. check for virus warning here
or at the site of an anti-virus publisher, such as mcaffee, symantec, panda,
trend-micro, or others. does it make sense that aol users will know of
a virus prior to a vendor such as mcaffee? or symantec? do you think bill
gates or microsoft tracks every person and send email with warnings? no
reputable anti-virus vendor ever send a file definition update in mail.
do not open these files, delete the mail.
if you receive
email warnings about a virus, use common sense.
you cannot
be too cautious. it is much better to avoid an infection than cleanup an
infection. |
