Do You Know Your Digital Vermin? Combating Digital Vermin Vangie Beal
Combating Viruses, Worms, and Trojan Horses
The first step to protecting your computer is to ensure that your operating system (OS) is up-to-date. This is essential if you're running a Microsoft Windows OS.
Second, you should have anti-virus software installed on your system and should also ensure that your virus definitions are updated frequently to stay current on the latest fixes for new viruses, worms, and Trojans.
Additionally, make sure your anti-virus program can scan e-mail and files as your computer downloads them from the Internet. This helps prevent malicious programs from ever reaching your computer.
If this isn't enough protection, then you may want to consider installing a firewall as well. A firewall is a system that prevents unauthorized use of, and access to, your computer. Firewalls can be either hardware- or software-based.
Hardware firewalls provide a strong degree of protection from most forms of attack coming from the outside world. You can buy them as standalone products or as part of a broadband router. Unfortunately, when battling viruses, worms, and Trojans, a hardware firewall may be less effective than a software firewall, as it could possibly ignore worms embedded in outgoing e-mail — viewing the messages not as threats but rather as regular network traffic.
For individual home users, a software-based firewall is the most popular option. A good software firewall will protect your computer from outside attempts to control or gain access to your computer, and will usually provide additional protection against the most common Trojan programs or e-mail worms. The downside to a software firewall is that it only protects the individual computer it's installed on, not on all networked PCs.
It is important to remember that, on its own, a firewall is not going to rid you of your computer virus problems. However, when used in conjunction with regular operating system updates and a good anti-virus scanning software, it will add extra security and protection for your computer or network.
