As
part of an ongoing effort to promote information security awareness
among all of our computer users at Georgia State University, I will
be writing a column in each Focus-IT newsletter that will offer information,
tips and advice to you. This month’s column is focused on antivirus
software and your computer.
With the publicity
that viruses such as the “I Love You” virus received earlier this
year, most everyone is aware of the need to install antivirus software
as a preventative measure. However, for reasons ranging from forgetfulness
to lack of knowledge about how this software actually works, many
users fail to maintain and update their antivirus software.
Also, perhaps you are even unaware that before opening an attachment, you should
always save the attachment to your hard drive, then run a scan on
the directory you placed the attachment file in to alert you to potential
viruses that are contained inside of these attached files.
The potential
problems that can result when you don’t update your antivirus software
programs, run periodic scans of your hard drive, or ensure
that you save emailed attachments and scan them prior to opening them
is that you now have little or no protection
from new viruses and malicious programs that can infect your computer
if you do any of the following: click on a web page with a “trap”
waiting for you—a virus file that will download to your computer without
your knowledge, open an attachment you receive in an email that immediately
infects your computer with a virus or malicious program that can do
damage to your computer, and finally, infect your computer by copying
a file from a diskette or CD that contains a virus that your antivirus
software is unable to detect because it is out of date.
What can you do
to avoid pitfalls such as those described above? A good starting
point is to go to http://www.gsu.edu/%7Ewwwccs/doc_lib/vscan9598.htm
and ensure that you have downloaded the current antivirus software
on your computer that is available to computer users at Georgia State
University. From there, you can utilize the “Scan Wizard” that is
in the Scan menu of McAfee’s VirusScan Antivirus Console to set up
scheduled times to update your software, update your software’s “DAT”
files, and to run periodic scans of your local drives. Next month
I will be giving you information about protecting yourself from Trojan
Horses, programs which allow someone to control your computer remotely.
Please be safe—ensure today that your antivirus software can protect
you by verifying that it is up-to-date.