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Are You Emailing Worms To Your Customers?
Word Count: 534
Keywords: computer viruses, computer virus protection, antivirus software, computer worm, computer virus scan
Related Words: attach, infected, network of computer, damage, bandwidth, botnets, denial of service, protect, hijack, PC, MS-Windows, Microsoft, patches, signature files, attacks, exploits, firewall, trusted network
You might be smiling at this article's title - but it's no laughing matter when a small business owner gets an angry phone call from a large client to cancel an order because "your computer virus has infected our email servers!"
Unlike computer viruses which need to attach themselves to a computer software program (thus infecting it) - computer worms are self-replicating and can run themselves.
They can therefore be passed through a network of computers spanning the world in a matter of hours. (Just watch the main stream media report on these events - although they often don't distinguish between computer virus and worm.)
What sort of damage can these worms do to a business? One of the side effects of worm-infected computers is that they can chew up your precious network bandwidth by repeatedly attaching and emailing documents.
This can slow down or even stop legitimate email from being sent out for hours - especially on larger networks. If your customer service reputation depends on prompt email response this can be very damaging.
Other insidious effects of computer worms include deleting files and even encrypting them - so they can't be open or read properly. A particularly dastardly approach is for the hacker to create a computer worm that opens a 'backdoor' into a PC's operating system - kind of like the 'trojan horse' attack by the ancient Greeks on the city of Troy.
This then enables armies of Zombie PCs (also called 'botnets') to be remotely activated and controlled for launching denial of service attacks on other computers located thousands of miles away. (The botnet PC owners usually remain unaware of this hijacking but once exploited, they too are in danger of data spying and corruption.)
Computer Virus Protection:
All is not lost however because there are 5 specific steps any small business owner can do to protect themselves:
1 - Install Up-To-Date Operating System Patches:
Vendors such as Microsoft regularly make software patches to plug the loopholes exploited by computer worms and viruses. Make sure your MS-Windows PCs are running the latest patches.
2 - Avoid Opening Unexpected Email:
This policy can be difficult to implement because one person's idea of an unexpected email may differ from another's. However, if you are at all suspicious of an attachment file in an email - don't open it until it has been virus scanned.
3 - Install Anti-Virus Software:
There are many choices available ranging from freeware to commercial offerings - but the key point is that whatever you choose must be regularly updated. It's no good installing antivirus software if the virus signature files are not updated to reflect the latest attacks and exploits. (It's not unusuall for the updates to come on a daily basis.)
4 - Anti-Spyware Software:
This software adds another layer of protection and can make it harder for some computer worm infections to work undetected.
5 - Use a Firewall:
For many PCs a software-based firewall is sufficient to monitor and control incoming and outgoing connections between your PC and the Internet. On a small business network with more than a handul of computers it's common to have a dedicated firewall machine between your trusted network and the 'untrusted' internet out there!
=== About The Author ===
Get great articles for your web site from an expert technology writer. Special reports and blog posts also available. Contact Mark McClure - www.samuraiwriter.com - for technology Ghostwriting and Copywriting.