Macro Computer Viruses

Unlike previous viruses, macro viruses do not infect programs; they infect documents and templates. As part of your email security practice, don´t open unknown file attachments. Opening a document or template that contains a macro virus will infect your system and the virus will spread to other documents and templates you may have on your system. Some macro viruses are not harmful, but they can be annoying. However, there are some macro viruses that can be very destructive. Also, Word macro viruses can be spread across platforms; for example, the macro virus can infect files on the Windows platform, as well as files on the Macintosh platform.

Password Creativity

To ensure your email security be creative in your password choice. Here are some other ways to create a good password.

Choose a line or two from a song or poem, and use the first letter of each word. For example, "In Xanadu did Kubla Kahn a stately pleasure dome decree" becomes "IXdKKaspdd." Or, alternate between one consonant and one or two vowels, up to eight characters. This provides nonsense words that are usually pronounceable, and thus easily remembered. Examples include "routboo," "quadpop," and so on. Choose two short words and concatenate them together with a punctuation character between them. For example: "dog;rain," "book+mug," "kid?goat."

Keeping Computer Viruses Out

Virus programmers and makers of internet security anti-virus software are in a constant battle for supremacy. Current virus have grown quite sophisticated. A multipartite virus is a virus composed of several parts. Every part of a multipartite virus needs to be cleaned away, to give assurance of non-infection. A polymorphic virus changes itself (mutates) as it passes through host files, making disinfection a serious challenge. Then there are Stealth viruses that hides themselves by intercepting disk access requests. When an internet security software anti-virus program tries to read files or boot sectors to find the virus, the stealth virus feeds the anti-virus program a clean image of file or boot sector. To make sure you have maximum protection, you need virus software that is frequently updated to track and remove the latest viruses.

Common Sense Computer Security

We all want easy solutions to our internet and computer security. The easiest thing you can do to ensure that you don´t lose all of your precious computer data is as old as computers themselves - make a backup copy. This is just a common sense, but so few people take a few minutes each month to back up their computer. Some viruses and Trojan horse programs will erase or corrupt files on your hard drive, and a recent backup may be the only way to recover your data and ensure data security. Additionally, if you have a power failure or surge and your surge protector fails, your hard drive make be fried and everything lost. Do yourself a favor, back up those files and maintain your information security!

What is a Computer Virus?

What is a computer virus? A computer virus is a program designed to compromise computer security and spread itself by first infecting executable files or the system areas of hard and floppy disks and then making copies of itself. Viruses usually operate without the knowledge or desire of the computer user and are a threat to data security. They also may slow down your pc or may corrupt specific files. Viruses often come through email messages but can also come from software installation or just from clicking on a website.

Computer Viruses and Data Security

Viruses have the potential to infect any type of executable code, not just the files that are commonly called ´program files´. For example, some viruses compromise data security and infect executable code in the boot sector of floppy disks or in system areas of hard drives. Another type of virus, known as a ´macro´ virus, can damage computer security by infecting word processing and spreadsheet documents that use macros. And it´s possible for HTML documents containing JavaScript or other types of executable code to spread viruses or other malicious code.

Computer Password Security

Your password is key to your online security, and it is only as secure as you make it. In addition to choosing a password that can´t be guessed or found in a dictionary, you need to make sure not to tell anyone your password. If you want to let a friend or family member have access to your computer, set up a separate account for them so they can´t get access to your personal files.

Laws Against Spam

Spam is the subject of a number of state laws that form a different kind of “spam filter”. In September 2003, legislation was approved in California that made it the second state (after Delaware) to adopt an opt-in rule for e-mail advertising. Under this legislation, it is illegal to send unsolicited commercial e-mail from California or to a California e-mail address. The law applies to senders as well as to advertisers on whose behalf messages are sent. It also includes less restrictive rules from which the broad prohibition may be severed in the event that it is struck down as unconstitutional.

How do Computer Viruses Work?

Virus programs are not a threat to your information security or computer security until the you run the program containing it. When you execute program code that´s infected by a virus, the virus code will also run and try to infect other programs, either on the same computer or on other computers connected to it over a network. And the newly infected programs will compromise internet security as they try to infect yet more programs.

The Meaning of Spam

Today, the word "spam" has mutated from a form of canned meat to a form of abusing the internet. There is both the noun, "My mailbox is full of spam", and the verb: "The hackers were spamming the company database with useless data". Although the word was part of the computer expert´s nomenclature years before, it entered popular usage in 1994 after a couple of Phoenix lawyers sent an unsolicited advertisement to USENET, which is a massive collection of message boards on every topic imaginable. The word "spam" was used to identify this unwanted traffic. The name stuck. Today an entire industry exists to create spam filters, spam blockers and email spam filters.

What Will a Computer Virus do to my Computer?

Note that viruses can´t do any damage to hardware: they won´t melt down your CPU, burn out your hard drive, cause your monitor to explode, etc. Warnings about viruses that will physically destroy your computer are usually hoaxes, not legitimate virus warnings. You don´t risk your computer security by ignoring these warnings.

Email Password Security

Passwords are the primary defense and front-line computer security for your internet security. A good password is one of the easiest and most effective ways to help secure your system and email security. If someone obtains your password, then they have complete access to your account and all its data, and to all the privileges and abilities you have. If you give your password to anyone, you are giving them significant power while keeping all the responsibility for their wielding it.

Getting a Virus Through Email

You can´t get a virus just by reading a plain-text E-mail message or Usenet post. What you have to watch out for are encoded messages containing embedded executable code (i.e., JavaScript in an HTML message) or messages that include an executable file attachment such as an encoded program file or a Word document containing macros.

Trojan Horse Virus

Anti-virus internet security software isn´t very good at detecting Trojan horse programs, so for the sake of your information security be extremely careful about opening binary files and Word/Excel documents from unknown or ´dubious´ sources. This includes posts in binary newsgroups, downloads from web/ftp sites that aren´t well-known or don´t have a good reputation, and executable files unexpectedly received as attachments to E-mail or during an on-line chat session.

What is an Internet Filter?

An internet filter program or service does exactly what it says - it filters your internet content according to your selected parameters.

The internet makes all information available to everyone, even when it is dangerous or inappropriate. Therefore, younger children and impressionable teenagers have access to more and more of this information without the benefit of adult direction and explanation.

Internet filtering has become more and more attractive to parents and schools and helps you, as a parent, guardian or teacher, introduce your child or teenager to the world and its potential perils in a more appropriate way.