Computer Viruses -- It Can't Happen to Me!

By Ria Mastromatteo, Educational Technology Consultant ()

Virus! Can't happen to me! NOT!!! Viruses can and do infect our machines with very little effort on our part -- in fact, sometimes no effort at all. Do you detect the voice of experience here? I managed to get the "I love you" virus a few years ago and infected all of my friends, the mailing list for one of our projects and every public TV station in Ohio. How proud was I!

So, what is a virus? Basically it's a program that attaches itself to another program and propagates when that program is executed. Some viruses make starting your computer impossible. Some erase material or implant messages in your computer.

Virus can be spread by sharing files or disks, by downloading infected material or through attachments to e-mail messages. So, warning number one is to make sure that your e-mail does not direct your computer to open attachments automatically. Also, don't open attachments that read .exe, .bat, .vbx or .com at the end. It's also a good idea not to open attachments unless you know the sender. (This doesn't always help. The organization from whom I got the virus is very reputable.)

Generally a virus is computer specific. It usually will run on only one operating system, not both Macs and PCs. An exception is in Microsoft Word programs that contain Macros. Macros use source code and this code is the same for PCs and Macs. This specificity is becoming less and less true, however, as most machines can run Java script and a virus can live in this script.

A few other virus preventing tips ... be sure you have virus protection software on your computer. McAfee and Norton are the leaders in this area. You can also write- protect floppy disks. This protects your A-drive only.

There are also computer hoaxes that can do damage to your computer. You might get a message that says to check your computer and if you have a certain file you should delete it because it contains a virus. The file is not infected and it is essential to make your computer operate correctly. So before you delete files, check to see if the warning is a hoax. Go to Symantec AntiVirus Research Center at http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/index.html or Stiller Research Virus Hoax News at http://www.stiller.com/hoaxes.htm.