viruses

Virus Basics : 

©2003 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. http://techrepublic.com.com. Virus Basics Created by: Robert L. Bogue, MCSE: Security, etc. Crowe Chizek and Company LLC

Agenda : 

©2003 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. http://techrepublic.com.com. Agenda Virus basics What to be concerned about Office protection Anti-virus messages

What is a virus? : 

©2003 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. http://techrepublic.com.com. What is a virus? A virus is a program that self-replicates It is not data You can only catch a virus by running a program Your computer runs all kinds of programs

Basic virus terminology : 

©2003 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. http://techrepublic.com.com. Basic virus terminology Virus Self-replicating Also called a worm Trojan Horse A program which appears to be valuable but has an unexpected consequence

How viruses get into computers : 

©2003 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. http://techrepublic.com.com. How viruses get into computers The four most common virus infections come from: File – A virus type that infects existing files on the computer (~40%) Macro – A virus that runs as a macro in a host application such as the MS Office applications (~35%) VBScript – A virus that uses Windows VisualBasic Script functionality (~10%) Internet Worm – A virus that is primarily characterized by it’s replication across the Internet (~5%)

The impact of viruses : 

©2003 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. http://techrepublic.com.com. The impact of viruses ICSA Labs estimates that the cost of a virus disaster is between $50,000 and $500,000 Average server downtime for a virusis 14 hours Source: ICSA Labs Computer Virus Prevalence Survey 2001

Basic virus defense : 

©2003 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. http://techrepublic.com.com. Basic virus defense Don’t open files that you are not expecting Many viruses automatically send files without the e-mail account owner’s knowledge. Ask the sender to confirm unexpected files. Suspect messages that appear more than once in your Inbox You may receive the same e-mail from a virus repeatedly.

Basic virus defense (cont.) : 

©2003 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. http://techrepublic.com.com. Basic virus defense (cont.) Learn file extensions Your computer will display both an icon and a file extension for files you receive. Open only file extensions you know are safe. When in doubt, call the help desk.

Examples of risky file types : 

©2003 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. http://techrepublic.com.com. Examples of risky file types The following file types should never be opened: .EXE .PIF .BAT .VBS .COM

Office protection : 

©2003 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. http://techrepublic.com.com. Office protection Office files are mostly data with some program code Office macros are programs, which can be viruses Office will prompt you to enable macros Enable macros only when you know why office is asking

Slide 11: 

©2003 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. http://techrepublic.com.com.

Outlook file security : 

©2003 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. http://techrepublic.com.com. Outlook file security Outlook will automatically block some kinds of executable files, but not all If you need a file that Outlook blocked, call the help desk Do not assume that because the file made it through Outlook that it is safe

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©2003 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. http://techrepublic.com.com.

Anti-virus warnings : 

©2003 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. http://techrepublic.com.com. Anti-virus warnings Notify the help desk when you receive a virus warning from Norton Antivirus, Symantec Antivirus, Trend Micro, etc. Most of the time, the virus software will detect and prevent the infection. However, the help desk can better tell you what to do.