Perhaps the most common cause of computer meltdown is a virus infection. There are so many viruses transmitting electronic diseases to computers these days that it is quite possible that your PC or laptop could already be infected without your knowledge.
What is a virus?
A computer virus is merely a program that attaches itself to another program or data file in order to spread and reproduce itself without the knowledge of the user.
How do viruses spread?
As viruses are designed to hide their presence in legitimate programs or data files, viruses are usually spread from computer to computer by individuals who are unaware they are doing so. The main methods by which viruses are generally transmitted include: –
• as attachments to e-mail messages;
• as files downloaded from the Internet; or
• by using infected USB disks.
How do you protect your business from viruses?
There are some simple precautions that can be taken in order to protect your system from viruses: –
• Install anti-virus or virus protection software on all your computer systems.
• E-mails from people or organisations unknown to your colleagues should be treated with extreme caution as they may contain computer viruses. Any attachments received in this manner should not be opened until they have been scanned by an up-to-date anti-virus program.
• Even if the email is from a known source, caution should be exercised when opening email attachments as the sender may have unwittingly contracted a computer virus. In particular any attachments with a file name ending in; BAT, .EXE, .SCR, .COM, or .VBS, should be scanned by an up-to-date anti-virus program as these are the most common type of files for viruses to hide in.
Contact Aussie IT for fixed price virus removal and a quote on how to better protect your business.
