macseyco ltd.
I.T. Consultancy 		 

Home

Viruses "Wrap up warm to avoid them"...more

But I Don’t Like Spam...more

Macseyco make wi fi as easy as a, b, g...more

What is an Intranet?...more

Viruses
"Wrap up warm to avoid them"
 

The 21st century plague, its probably eaten your e-mails shredded your documents, sent your customers invitations to some very graphic sites and caused untold chaos with your web site and you probably don’t even know its their.

Well theirs not a lot you can do about them, like the common cold they will probably never find a cure, however you can avoid them the same way you would avoid a cold, by wrapping up warm and eating the right stuff. Well not literally, I’m sure your computers warm enough and it probably doesn’t eat 3 squares a day, but by taking care and keep updated you can fend of threat of viruses.

A few tips that will keep the virus at bay and stop your computers nose from running.

  1. Always run the latest versions of your chosen operating system, it’s not just Windows that gets attacked Linux and Mac are vulnerable as well. Make sure you keep them updated at least once a month.
  2. Keep you e-mail client (Outlook) and your browser (Internet Explorer) up to date and always upgrade to the latest version.
  3. Anti-Virus software is a must and should be kept up to date with all the latest virus definitions. You should scan your computer at least once a month and if you intend to download any software from the Internet always scan it before running the program.

  4. Run a firewall, XP has one inbuilt which is the very minimum requirement. Whilst Norton Internet Security or even Zone Alarm are ideal for other Operating systems whilst offering more enhanced security than the default XP Firewall.
     

  5. Don’t open email attachments from someone you don’t know and even if you do know them scan the attachments first, Hotmail is ideal for this as it automatically scans any attachment before you can download it.

Don’t assume you are safe or that your security is somebody else’s responsibility, because it isn’t. The fact is there are hackers and there are billions of bugs about so if you don’t wrap up warm and keep safe you’re bound to catch one.

Macseyco Ltd. can help protect from the everyday risk of using the internet with the correct installation of software and the implementation of a regular regime of updates, backups and system scans. Whilst being ready and always vigilant in case one breaks though the net.

For more about macseyco ltd. please contact info@macseyco.com

the worst viruses in the world ..ever!
Michelangelo 1992.
The first virus to damage a large number of PCs, Michelangelo, was also the first example of virus hype. Media scare stories had everyone in a panic but when the trigger date of 6th March arrived, virus proved to be considerably less scary than everyone believed.

Chernobyl 1999.
 The Chernobyl virus caused chaos in Asia when hundreds of thousands of machines had their hard disks trashed by this nasty little program - and it was still causing trouble in 2001. Damages have been estimated at more than $250 million.

Word.Concept 1995. The first macro virus - the granddaddy of today's email virus - infected Word documents but didn't do ant real damage. However, it spread like wildfire. In 1996 it was the most prevalent virus in the world and it's still around today.

Love Bug 2000. The Love Bug, better known as ILOVEYOU virus, took advantage of people's curiosity (or gullibility) to enable it to spread - and it did, infecting 45 million people in a single day and going on to cause an eye-watering $8.75 billion in damage.

Melissa 1999. One of the first viruses to use the now-common trick of emailing itself to everyone in your address book, Melissa spread much more widely than the Chernobyl virus and caused an estimated $385 million of damage.

Nimda 2001
The swiss army knife of viruses used a number of infection methods and several forms of attack, targeting PCs and servers alike. To date, the Nimda virus has caused damage worth an estimated $635 million.

Code Red 2001
Taking advantage of an old security hole, Code Red attempted to turn computers into Denial of Service zombies. It spread incredibly quickly, infecting 250,000 hosts in just nine hours. Damage caused by Code Red and its variants has been estimated at $2.62 billion.

Explorer 1999
 Targeting Windows NT systems, the Explorer (also known as Remote Explorer) virus was able to mutate into different strains, a feature that made it difficult to detect and stop. Explorer is belived to have caused $1.02 billion in damage.

Bubbleboy 1999
Bubbleboy was more of a hype than a genuine virus attack, b ut it's one of the most important viruses to date. Before Bubbleboy you couldn't get a virus from simply reading email but by exploiting holes in Internet Explorer and Outlook, Bubbleboy changed all that.

Sircam 2001
We've all seen this one:" Hi! How are you? I send you this file in order to have your advice", followed by a file from the victim's My Documents folder. Although SirCam is more irritating than dangerous, the virus still cost the businesses $1.15 billion.
 

Registered Office and mailing address - North Cottage, South Woodchester, Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5  5EL
Company Registration No. 04597619