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Ex 2.3.2 - Anti-Virus |
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| KNOWLEDGE | ||
| COMPUTER VIRUSES | ||
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One of the best things about using a computer is the ability save your
files and edit them at a later date or even share them with other people.
You can also work on a document at work or college and then take it home
to finish it off on your own computer. Clearly most of the files you
save to disc not only contain useful information but they are also
harmless. Some however are not. In addition to working with files that you or your friends/colleagues create it is also possible to surf the Internet where you can access and send all kinds of information such as:
All the time that you are on the Internet files are being sent and received by your computer. These files have been created by other people and are free to be accessed by anyone. Clearly most of the files that you retrieve over the Internet are both useful and harmless. Some files however may have "viruses", "Trojan horses" or "trapdoors" in them, and you may also come across "worms" as you travel the Internet. All of these can damage your computer if you do not take some simple steps. |
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| ANTI-VIRUS MEASURES | ||
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A virus is a computer program that has been carefully written by someone with programming knowledge to secretly copy itself from one computer to another. This is usually achieved by hiding the virus code in a normal program or file. When you run the program that is "infected" with the virus, the virus is activated. Most of the time the virus will do little more than make a copy of itself onto your computer disc. This is annoying but generally harmless. Many viruses are however written to also carry out malicious acts of vandalism on your computer. A virus programmed in a certain way can:
Some viruses are written so that they only run at specific times of the year. For months you do not realise there is a virus on your machine and then suddenly it activates itself. The solution is to be vigilant and ensure that you have anti-virus software on your machine. In addition you should update the anti-virus software regularly (this is usually free over the Internet for one year) and run it so that it checks all of the files on your machine for viruses. Examples of virus protection software that you can purchase include:
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| VIRUSES AND GOOD PRACTICE | ||
It is very important that all
computer users are educated in good working practice viz a vie computer
viruses. These include:
The internet can be a dangerous place for the inexperienced user and a virus infection can result in days of unnecessary work to disinfect a hard disc - use scanning software and be aware of the dangers of unsolicited e-mails. |
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| HANDLING VIRUSES | ||
| As has already been stated viruses can cause problems should they infect your machine or data discs. The solution is to be vigilant and ensure that you have anti-virus software on your machine and that you scan discs at regular intervals. In addition it is absolutely vital that you update the anti-virus software regularly (this is usually free over the Internet for one year) and run it so that it checks all of the files on your machine for viruses. New viruses appear on a daily basis and as such your anti-virus software effectively is out of date daily. Virus software manufactures are aware of this and as such they update their master virus database file every day. The Internet allows anyone who has bought a legal copy of the virus scanning software to download, on a daily basis if required, these updated files. Hence, provided that you do this your system will be up to date and be able to scan for all known viruses. | ||
| FURTHER INFORMATION | ||
| To read further information about the topic(s) discussed in this exercise try visiting the following web site(s): www.bbc.co.uk/webwise - Online Course/Safety
www.mcafee.com - Anti-Virus Software |
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| PRACTICE | ||
| Hence, you now need to learn about how
to "Use virus scanning software."
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Check your current
knowledge by taking a |
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