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Computer Viruses: Files
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Viruses can be transmitted as attachments to an e-mail note, as downloads, or present on a diskette or CD downloaded onto your computer. The individual providing the e-mail note, downloaded file, or diskette is often unaware of the virus. Some viruses take effect immediately; other viruses lie dormant until circumstances cause the code to be executed by the computer. Some viruses are annoying in intent and effect and some can be quite harmful, erasing data or causing your hard disk to require reformatting. In either case, computer virus infections should not go untreated and they can be prevented.
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Computer viruses are seemingly everywhere these days. The best advice is to watch the local and national news and stay abreast of any new developments. Often large corporations will be attacked first and spread the word about troublesome emails or files that you may come into contact with.
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Even with active monitoring of computer systems, anti-virus software can only protect against viruses that it knows about. For this reason, update files (generally called Definition Files) for anti-virus software are needed every time there is a new virus release. On the Windows platform, this means an update roughly every week; the Macintosh has fewer new viruses to worry about so updates are usually done monthly. The software that ITS distributes has an "Auto Update" feature to automatically connect to a Web site and download the latest Definition Files. Refer to the documentation to turn this feature on and receive the maximum protection against viruses on your computer. Be sure to keep your Definition Files current!
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Many users install anti-virus software that can detect and eliminate known viruses after the computer downloads or runs the executable. There are two common methods that an anti-virus software application uses to detect viruses. The first, and by far the most common method of virus detection is using a list of virus signature definitions. This works by examining the content of the computer's memory (its RAM, and boot sectors) and the files stored on fixed or removable drives (hard drives, floppy drives), and comparing those files against a database of known virus "signatures". The disadvantage of this detection method is that users are only protected from viruses that pre-date their last virus definition update. The second method is to use a heuristic algorithm to find viruses based on common behaviors.
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Computer viruses are programs written by "mean" people. These virus programs are placed into a commonly used program so that program will run the attached virus program as it boots, therefore, it is said that the virus "infects" the executable file or program. Executable files include Macintosh "system files" [such as system extensions, INITs and control panels] and application programs [such as word processing programs and spreadsheet programs.] Viruses work the same ways in Windows or DOS machines by infecting zip or exe files.
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Anti-virus products provide important tools for protecting your systems from computer viruses. Since new viruses are created every day, it is important to keep your anti-virus product up to date. The following list of anti-virus vendors includes URLs from which you can download updates for anti-virus products and for definition files. Some vendors use email mailing lists to alert users of updates. Often, you can subscribe to these lists through the vendors web sites.
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