Virus
Information
Computer
viruses are increasing at an unprecedented rate. In 1986, there
was one known computer virus; three years later, that number had
increased to six and by 1990, the total had jumped to 80. By November
of that year, viruses were being discovered at the rate of one
per week. Today, between 10 and 15 new viruses appear every day.
Nehalem
Telephone wants you use the Internet safely - please read on for
tips on how to protect yourself online.
Arm
Yourself Against The Virus Bandits and Intruders
More
Virus Resources
Arm
Yourself Against The Virus Bandits and Intruders
Douglas
B. Keller
As
everyone has most likely already heard, the latest and biggest
stir making the rounds on the Internet is the all dreaded virus
alerts as well as unwanted intruders. I am not referring to the
Hong Kong flu, I am talking about the viruses that are wreaking
havoc on computers around the world as well as the cyber thieves
that prey upon unprotected cyber surfers. I chose to devote this
effort to help all of my subscribers to understand the potential
for disaster on your home computer as well as business computers.
I
would also like to pass along some information to help everyone
to arm themselves against these WORTHLESS cyber-junkies that have
nothing better to do than crash computers worldwide just for the
fun of it. There is also a great threat of these same idiots,
tapping into your personal computer and stealing personal data
stored in various files and folders. Yes they can enter your computer
without your knowledge and harvest whatever they choose, most
times, without you ever knowing.
Many
people will ask "Am I Really In That Much Danger"? Read
this very carefully. You are most definitely in DANGER. You will
lessen your chances of a problem if you are connected to the Internet
for very brief periods but for the average netter, prolonged connections
are the norm. These cyber bandits wreak their havoc with "scanners"
that are constantly searching for computers that are running Windows
File and Printer Sharing. Even if your computer is password protected
these bandits have little problem convincing your computer to
belch up the sacred password thus gaining entry into your private
domain. These bandits very often leave these scanners running
day in and day out just collecting IP addresses. If one of these
IP addresses happens to be yours then it is only a short hop to
gain total access to your computer files.
I
will not go into great detail as to how all of this is possible
because of space limitations and time as well, but I would like
to provide you with a way to check your own computer very easily,
and then you can really see how vulnurable you are. The website
that I would highly recommend is Gibson Research Corporation at
http://grc.com/default.htm Once there you can click on a window
called Shields Up and then click on "Test My Shields"
and/or "Probe My Ports" to have your computer tested
in a very short time to see just how "wide open" you
are while you are on-line as well as off-line.
If
you find that you too, need a personal firewall after having your
computer checked, I also recommend the "Zone Alarm 2.6"
software. For home use you can download it free and for business
it is around $20. Not much for the peace of mind that it will
give you. Zone alarm also features "Mailsafe" to stop
email-borne Visual Basic Script worms, like the "I Love You"
virus, instantly, preventing further spread, and preventing damage
to your files and folders. Zone alarm is a superb piece of software
and very easy to use. If you decide to download Zone Alarm you
can do so at the above site or go to http://www.zonelabs.com
Also,
if
you would like any more information or a more detailed report
on upgrading your computer for top-notch security feel free to
email me and I will be happy to help!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Douglas
B. Keller @ 5/2000 Doug Keller is the publisher of Business to
Build Ezine, a "Guide for Helping Internet Newbies Make Money
Online." Subscribe at http://www.businesstobuild.com or mailto:BusinessToBuild-subscribe@onelist.com
This article extracted from the Marketing-Seek Archives at: http://www.marketing-seek.com/
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More
Virus Resources:
This
is a great article from Symantec called What
is a Virus?
Symantec
AntiVirus Research Center
ZDNet's Bugs, Viruses and Security Alerts
AntiVirus
Product Resources:
Norton
AntiVirus
McAfee
VirusScan
Panda
Antivirus
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