Viruses and how to protect yourself

Thanks to Sophos, we are able to give you lots of information about current viruses and just as important, virus hoaxes, which can cause the unwary to delete important Windows files.  Click the links below for details of each.

How to protect yourself:

Installing anti-virus software on your computer is highly recommended - there are a number of good ones out there, such as Sophos, McAfee or Norton's Antivirus.  If you find you cannot link to these websites, there is a good chance that you already have a virus on your machine as one of the things it does is to stop you linking to anti-virus sites.   If that is the case, you will need to purchase the software from a computer store and install it. It is very important that you keep the software updated regularly, as new viruses are appearing all the time.

No virus protector will give you 100% immunity, especially if it hasn't been updated. Therefore it's important to also keep to the following  simple rules:

If you receive an email that has an attachment that ends in .exe, delete it immediately.

If the sender is someone you know, email them and ask whether they intended to send you that file.  If they didn't, it means they have a virus on their machine and they need to get  it checked and cleaned immediately.   Do this even if you know the person really well - they may not be aware they have the virus.

If you need to send or receive an executable file (ending .exe) then send an email in advance to make sure that the person knows you are sending it, make sure they know what it is called and include an agreed message with the file.

If anything comes with a file that ends in .jpg.vbs, or perhaps .jpg.prn or something like that, don't open it. It is likely the "from" address will be blank. When you look at the attachment, it often just seems to say .jpg at the end as the .vbs does not display in an email. If you drag it to your desktop, you will see the .vbs at the end and you must just delete it immediately. Do not double click on it, or try to open it as it will infect your machine.

Screen savers are another well known source of viruses, and you should not open files which end in .scr - one of the best known of these is one about Snow White. It comes with a file attached, usually ending with .scr and you may get it in any language, and with different starts to the story. You must just delete it. don't even bother to open it, as you can see the subject line.

There are many others, but if you keep to the principle that unless you know you are meant to be receiving an attachment, don't open it . At the present time, .pdf files - the ones that require Acrobat Reader - are safe, but any files that end with .exe, .scr, .vbs are certainly not and many others should be treated with great caution.

More Information:

The following rules are suggested by Sophos.com: 

• Use Rich Text Format instead of DOC files which can harbor viruses. You can automatically save all of your Word documents as RTF by selecting Tools|Options|Save and choosing Rich Text Format as the default format from the drop down menu.
• Do not run, download or forward any unsolicited executables, documents, spreadsheets, etc. Anything that runs on your PC should be virus checked and approved first.
• Any email you weren't expecting should be treated with suspicion, even if it comes from someone you know. It is worth calling whoever sent it to you to check that they intended to send you the email.
• Do not open any files with a double file extension, (e.g. iamavirus.txt.vbs). Under normal circumstances you should never need to receive or use these.
• Do not download executables or documents from the Internet. These are often used to spread computer viruses.
• Although JPG, GIF and MP3 files cannot be infected with a virus, viruses can be disguised as these file types. Jokes, pictures, graphics, screensavers and movie files should be treated with the same amount of suspicion as other file types.
• If in doubt, always ask your IT department for advice, do not open the file or email.
• If you think you have been infected with a virus inform your IT department immediately. Do not panic or interrupt other users.
• Any virus warnings or hoaxes should be sent to the IT department who can confirm whether or not it is genuine. Do not forward these warnings to anyone else; unless you are signed up to an official virus alert service it is unlikely to be a genuine warning.
• If you have to work at home ensure that you follow the same procedures there as you do at work. Viruses can easily be brought into an organisation along with work that has been done on a home PC.

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