Computer Viruses

You can download several different virus programs off the internet. I use AVG Free edition. I have used it for over a year now with no problems. I downloaded it from filehippo.com. I will include the link to their virus download page below. They have several options.

Windows XP has a firewall built in. Go to your start bar, control panel, and click on security center. The option to turn it on will be there.

Answer:

I used almost a year Comodo Internet Security and I was satisfied with it. It is free and includes a firewall, an antivirus scanner and a malware detection engine.

talking about the reasons why programmers create viruses, worms and the likes… Reasons varies actually from one programmer to another.

1. They write this kind of codes as part of their research.
2. These are just pranks, vandalism etc
3. A way of spreading words ie announcement, greetings, political message etc
4. They use them for extortion, theft etc
5. A way of testing a product, application or any software.
6. The way to attack one's application, works, job, etc.

xcool77

Spybot: Search and Destroy, like most trusted anti-spyware programs, is able to protect your system against threats stored in its "threat database". New threats are emerging all the time as the Internet "bad guys" write new viruses, spyware, and other malware, and these new threats will not be registered in Spybot's threat database.

The helpful developers of Spybot are always working on their threat database, adding new threats as they find them. However, all these additions to the threat database won't help you if you don't have the up-to-date database. This is the function of the Update option in Spybot - it downloads the latest threat database from Spybot headquarters, allowing Spybot to find and eliminate new, dangerous threats. Updating Spybot regularly can keep you protected from all these threats.

It can also be a good idea to install multiple anti-spyware programs - between them, their threat databases will take out more malware. A good anti-spyware program is Lavasoft Ad-Aware, linked below.

Anti-virus is also vitally important. Grisoft's AVG is freely available and provides superb protection if kept up-to-date (link below).

For extra protection, the Firefox addon, Web of Trust, has another threat database, this time of Web sites. WOT will warn you about sites with malware, and provide another layer of protection (link below).

The first line of defense against computer viruses is to have a good anti-virus program installed on the computer. Make sure you check out the program before buying or downloading it as there are quite a few malware programs out there masquerading as "anti-virus software". You should also have a good host-based firewall active on your computer. Viruses, worms, trojans, spyware, adware, and other malware typically spread through one of a few vectors:

1) email attachments - once the user opens the attachment, their computer is infected.

2) infected media (like flash drives, CD's, DVD's, and the good old floppy disks of yore)

3) malicious auto-executing scripts on websites (look up drive-by-downloads for more details). These often are associated with emails that provide a link to the bogus website. These may also take the form of phishing attacks where an email from an apparently legitimate site directs the user to a very legitimate looking but fake website where the attacker installs malware to steal user information like passwords, bank account numbers, credit card numbers, etc. which can then be used to steal identities and consequently money from the victims.

4) unsolicited connections sent to unprotected computers while they are on-line (this is where firewalls can protect you)

5) scareware - a victim gets a pop-up message telling them that their computer is infected and that they need to download a particular program to clean it up (usually this is actually social engineering to get the victim to install malware on their computer)

6) trojans - free (usually) programs that seem to be useful or a legitimate game that actually install malware on the computer along with the application or game that the user thought they were installing.

I have also borrowed the following advice from another user about dealing with computer viruses:

The following guidelines may give you a fighting chance.

I have divided this page into two sections - a quick guide for those who are experienced, or are short on time, and a more detailed section for anyone wanting more details.

Please do not ignore computer viruses - they can range from nuisance or joke programs to ones that erase the entire hard disk.

Quick Guide:

1. Keep a regular backup of your important files (on floppy, zip disk, writeable CD, tape, another hard disk, etc.)
2. Be aware that most current viruses arrive as e-mail attachments. Be very suspicious of any attachment that has any of the following file extensions:

.exe .vbs .scr .vbe .com .bat .shs .cpl .dll .ocx .pif .drv .lnk .bin .sys .eml .nws (do not click on attachment files whose names end with any of the above) These attachments almost always arrive from someone you know (without that person's knowledge), so attachments are not safe just because you know the sender. Note: Opening the mail itself is safe, but clicking on any attachment can spread the virus instantly.

You should update your definition files at LEAST once a week. If your anti-virus program has the capability, you should configure it to download updates automatically every time you connect to the internet. You should also configure your antivirus software to conduct a full scan at least once a week - or launch the scan manually at least once a week. You should also launch a manual scan any time you suspect your computer may have become infected. Note that some viruses hit the web before anti-virus software definitions are updated to detect them so you can still get infected in the time between when the virus comes out and the anti-virus software starts to detect it.

• What is a Computer Virus: A Computer Virus is simply a computer program with malicious intent. These programs are usually small in size, and the more clever ones hide themselves within other innocent programs (e.g. within NOTEPAD), hence the "virus" in their name. In fact the technical difference between a Computer Virus and a Computer Worm is that the virus inserts itself within some other legitimate program, while the Worm exists as a standalone program. From a user's perspective this distinction is somewhat moot, and a worm or a virus can do equal damage. In fact the word "worm" is used less these days, and virus is often applied to both types of programs.

Viruses are often written by students with time on their hands, though a few are very sophisticated and obviously written by professionals (disgruntled employees, frustrated programmers etc.). While there are over 30,000 known computer viruses, the number of truly original viruses is actually quite limited, as seen by the number of copy-cat viruses that proliferate after any well publicized virus incident. For example, there are apparently several hundred variants of the "ILoveYou" virus out there. Most are just plain copies, or minor variations of the original. More recently, cybercriminals have started to release viruses to steal information or compromise a computer to allow it to be used as part of a botnet to spam thousands of other computers or to carry out denial-of-service attacks against target networks.