Subscribe to the WiSS Email Protection System
If you are a email customer of WiSS (if we host your site or
handle your email) we can check your email for viruses BEFORE it
reaches your machine, it will also disinfect any email sent FROM
your system. As we update our anti virus twice daily you can be
confident we will catch most viruses but, as explained below, we
cannot detect new viruses for which a remedy has not been developed
- no one can.
(This is the only blatant plug in this section)
Don't open unsolicited email
No matter how tempting Snow White and her Seven Dwarfs or the
'holiday of a life time' offer might be, don't open or read
those emails. If you do please don't ring us with your virus woes.
It's tempting to advise only opening emails from your nearest
and dearest but how do you know they don't have a virus either?
The same goes for browsing web sites, you never know what is
lurking in those web pages. Treat the Internet as a jungle with unknown
dangers - at least then you will be prepared for the worst and
will have hopefully armed yourself with the necessary protection
before venturing out into the wild.
Install AV Software
We do not recommend any particular vendor of AV software but
listed below are links to some of the most popular sites:
Run checks every day
Your AV software should allow you to perform checks or scans on
your files without intervention at predetermined intervals, enable
this if you can. Also, the software may give you the opportunity to scan
incoming email or check for malicious Java code or Active X controls
in websites, turn these on if possible.
Tighten Security
Personal firewalls can be effective against preventing not only
unwanted intrusion (not a topic discussed here) but also against
viruses.
Your web browser will also offer levels of security that can
protect you when browsing (you can catch a virus simply by viewing
a web site) please read the help files provided to see how to do
this.
Update your AV definition files regularly
Once you have installed your AV software and run all the
recommended checks ensure that you update to the latest AV
definition files as provided the AV vendor. In many cases the vendors provide a system that enables
automatic updates to be schedule, WiSS recommends daily
updates.
Update your operating system and software
Many viruses are written to exploit vulnerabilities in operating
systems or programs, many of these vulnerabilities are known and
patches exist to plug these gaps. However, very few users ever
take the necessary action or are even aware that action should
be taken.
Don't forget when you unpack your new PC it's operating system
is already out-of-date and requires patching.
WiSS recommends users of Microsoft products to subscribe to
Microsoft's security bulletin notification mailing list. Details
on how to do this can be found on Microsoft's
website.
Don't pass on virus warnings
There are very few legitimate virus warnings in circulation -
most are hoaxes and others are actually viruses. Hoaxes tend to
congest email systems and can cause system damage as they encourage
deletion of normal system files under the pretext they are viruses.
Following such instructions can render your system unusable. System
files can be infected with viruses but let your AV software do
the detection and cleansing and don't be fooled by hoaxes.
Subscribe to virus warning lists
This is one blatant recommendation we will make. Sophos www.sophos.com
offers an email notification service for new viruses detected 'in
the wild'. Please use it.
Get wise.
