By John Anderson
July, 2000

Everyone has read the recent news stories about computer viruses and the damage caused by their destruction, but how real is the threat? Is this something you really need to be concerned about? The answer is a resounding “Yes!” With the explosive growth of the Internet, millions of people all over the world are transferring files and downloading shareware. Often, they have no idea where these files are coming from. In today’s environment the threat of a computer virus is very real.

What is a Computer Virus?

A computer virus is a program that attaches itself or modifies another program. The modified program is then infected. The virus code is executed when the infected program is executed. Viruses have been known to corrupt programs, delete files, destroy data and even reformat entire hard drives.

As a general rule, viruses fall into one of three categories:

Boot Sector Virus - This type of virus attaches itself to the boot sector of a floppy disk and then copies itself to the boot sector of your hard drive. Once the virus is on your hard drive, it will continue to infect any floppy disks that are inserted into your floppy drive. You can only get a boot sector virus from an infected floppy disk that your computer attempts to boot from. You can not get a boot sector virus from using programs or files that are on an infected floppy disk.

Program Virus - This type of virus attaches itself to executable files, usually .EXE or .COM files. Once an infected program file is executed, the virus becomes memory resident and then infects all other program files that are executed.

Macro Virus - This is a fairly new type of virus. It is similar to a program virus, but actually infects office applications such as MS Word or MS Excel files. Today’s office applications provide the user with the ability to create macros to automate complex or repetitive tasks. The macro virus embeds itself in the office application file and is activated when the file is opened.

Booting your computer with an infected floppy disk is one of the most common ways of catching a virus. Downloading a file from the Internet or an online service is another common way of catching a computer virus. Most reputable Internet sites and online services now scan all of their files for viruses but that still does not guarantee that all their files will be virus free.

You can also catch computer viruses from e-mail attachments. While you can not catch a virus from simply reading an e-mail message, viruses can be spread through programs or office application files that may be sent as attachments to e-mails. Always save and scan any e-mail attachment for viruses before opening the attachment. Even brand new shrink-wrapped software has been infected with viruses.

Here are some indications that you may have a computer virus:

Your computer hard drive is constantly running out of free space even though you have not installed any new software.

Programs take longer and longer to load.

Hard drive runs even when you are not accessing it.

Files appear on your computer with strange names you don’t recognize.

Strange graphics appear on your computer monitor.

Your conventional memory is less than it used to be.

Programs act strange or erratically.

This is not to say that your computer has a virus if it displays one of these symptoms. There may be some other problem causing the behavior. The above examples are just some common indicators of a virus.

The most important thing you should do to protect your system and your data from viruses is installing a reputable anti-virus program on your computer. There are many companies that currently provide this type of software and many of them offer free downloadable trial versions from their websites. All anti-virus software has different options or settings that you can select. Be sure you use some sort of auto-protect mode so that the anti-virus software automatically loads each time your computer boots up. Many programs now also offer the ability to automatically scan any file your download from the Internet or any file that you may receive as an attachment to your e-mail.

In order for your anti-virus software to remain effective you must also update it regularly. There are new viruses being introduced every day. All anti-virus software companies offer regular updates to combat these new viruses. Some offer these updates free once you purchase their software; some charge a fee for their updates. This is something to consider as you shop around for your anti-virus software.

No anti-virus software is 100 percent effective. Therefore, any anti-virus protection strategy should also include regular back-ups of your data. This won’t prevent any viruses but it will reduce your computer’s downtime if you ever catch one.

Computer viruses are real and they are here to stay. As the software companies develop new and improved methods to combat viruses, new viruses appear to defeat them. For an excellent source of information on computer viruses, visit ICSA (www.icsa.net/). Not only do they have information on all the new computer viruses as they appear; they also have information on all the latest virus hoaxes floating around cyberspace. But the fact still remains, if you are one of the millions of computer users surfing the Internet, you need to be aware of the computer virus threat and protect yourself.

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