Practice Safe Computing

Practice Safe Computing

"The calamity that comes is never the one we had prepared ourselves for."

—Mark Twain

Viruses are a real problem for computer users. However, the biggest problem may be the amount of misinformation about viruses that is distributed on a regular basis. This section of the helpweb points you to resources that help you sort fact from legend. It will also help you develop a plan for protecting yourself from viruses and other digital disasters.

If you don't do in-depth study in this section, please do consider the following three-steps:

1. DEVELOP A BACKUP PLAN.
I am hopeful that if you've never had any problem with lost data, you will not assume that this will always be the case. However, there are a number of us (myself included), who will ignore this advice until they suffer from some terrible tragedy and lose something of vital importance. It may be a virus, a hardware failure, an act of God, or even a human error that causes this loss. By having all your vital information backed up, you will rest easier at night and remain fairly calm if tragedy does strike.

2. KNOW YOUR SOFTWARE SOURCE
Be careful when picking up new shareware, games, or even packaged software. There are loads of terrific programs to download off the Internet. Consider the source before you download, and check it out with anti-virus software. This practice should be applied to all new programs that you introduce to your computer—even the shrink-wrapped kind.

3. INVEST IN SOME SORT OF ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE.
The links below will help you make an educated judgement about brands and varities. We are not endorsing any particular flavor, but like the backup plan, this precaution might save you from picking up a virus from a malicious or innocent source.

Learn More About Computer Viruses

Virus Prevention 101/102: The Internet Tourbus discusses viruses in layman's terminology.

CIAC bulletin - PKZ300, Irina, Good Times, Deeyenda, Ghost: In addition to discussing the specific hoaxes mentioned in the title, this bulletin gives solid advice on how to avoid inadvertantly spreading a hoax.

The Virus FAQ: This document is intended to answer some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about computer viruses. This FAQ sheet has been compiled by some of the main contributors to the Virus-L mailing list and its USENET news fan-out, comp.virus.

Virus Bulletin: This independent site provides information on computer virus prevention, recognition and removal.

AVP Virus Encyclopedia: This is a very extensive encyclopedia of known viruses.

Truth About Computer Virus Myths & Hoaxes: You will learn a lot about viruses and how myths and legends build around virus scares by visiting this web. The best part is that the information is presented in an entertaining manner.

Virus Hoaxes: A brief index of information about computer virus hoaxes.

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