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Viruses, Trojans, Spyware & Phishing
First of all, what is a virus, trojan, spyware or phishing? A lot of rubbish is spoken about these four separate subjects, so we hope these few words will help you. Let's start by looking at what each word means.
Virus - a program written to cause mischief or damage to a computer system. A mild virus might only be a slight nuisance, or even amusing. However, most viruses do damage, whether to your files, your registry, or even your hardware. Viruses are hard to detect, easy to propagate, and difficult to remove. Your computer can pick up a virus when you copy a seemingly normal file from a diskette, CD or download it from the Internet.
Spyware - Any software that covertly gathers user information through the user's Internet connection without his or her knowledge, usually for advertising purposes. Spyware applications are typically bundled as a hidden component of freeware or shareware programs that can be downloaded from the Internet. Once installed, the spyware monitors user activity on the Internet and transmits that information in the background to someone else.
Trojan - A destructive program that masquerades as a benign application. Unlike viruses, Trojans do not replicate themselves but they can be just as destructive. One of the most insidious types of Trojan is a programme that claims to rid your computer of viruses but instead introduces viruses onto your computer.
Phishing - A phishing e.mail is designed to look like a genuine e.mail from your bank or financial institution. However, it will in fact lure you to a fradulent website wjere you will be asked to enter your bank account or credit card details. Phishin e.mails are particularly dangerous becasue they are a social engineering technique and will, in many cses, look just like the real thing. Remember, no bank or financial institution will ever ask you to confirm your account number and login details in an e.mail. If you do get a phishing e.mail, or a suspicious e.mail that you think is not legitimate:
- DO NOT follow any hyperlink contained in the e.mail.
- Telephone your bank and speak to the online security staff each bank employs.
- If requested by the bank, forward the e.mail to them - they will deal with it.
- NEVER give your banking details to anyone that requests them in an e.mail unless you personally know them, and they have a right to know these details!
- If in doubt, contact us or your bank first.
Phew! Glad we got that one out of the way early! There are a couple of rumours we would like to kill off before we start, first, you don't have to visit 'adult' websites to catch a virus or trojan, they are everywhere and can be downloaded onto your computer from virtually any e.mail or any website. Secondly, anti-virus software is not the answer to every virus problem, bear in mind that the software is only as good as the latest update, and if your software is out of date, it's as good as useless.
Some anti-virus software is not that efficient, an example being any software that is free. Everyone who uses the free software will tell you wonderfully efficient it is, and they don't get viruses, and so on. Then we come along and put on our commercial software, and hey presto, a couple of viruses and the odd trojan. Oops.
That's not to say you shouldn't use the free stuff, it's better than nothing at all, just bear in mind that they really want you to purchase the full programme and hope that by using the free 'sample' you will want to upgrade. Remember, nothing in life is really free.
Scanning
We are often asked how often should a computer be scanned. In our opinion at least once a week, once a fortnight at the very outside. The same is true of anti-spyware. You can always set the scan running while you are having your evening meal and view the results afterwards. Scanning while you are working on the computer is not ideal as the computer will naturally slow down, best to wait while it does its thing.
Which Software?
The most popular anti-virus software packages are without doubt ESET - Nod32, Microsoft Security Essentials, Norton, McAfee, AVG, Kaspersky and Panda Security. You must keep up to date with your software, going online and getting the latest 'definitions' is done automatically by some software, whilst others remind you to update, but you have to configure it yourself. Remember, anti-virus software, no matter how good, is not a 'cure-all', and you may still catch a virus or trojan no matter how careful you are.
Where can I buy it?
Below are banner links to some of the leading anti-virus software packages. To get a beter idea of what's available, please click any of the banners.
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On the next page we will be looking at Spyware in more detail, including a list of the leading software manufacturers.
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