As we all know, computers are now necessities to every people walking the earth. We just can't hide the fact that without them, life would be miserable. But, with the much use of computers in the industries, schools and homes, lots of things have evolved through time. These include computer viruses which had gone through different forms from viruses that survived in the infamous DOS(Disk Operating System) environment up to the present over-bloated Windows operating system. Everyday, these pieces of programs written by witty programmers are becoming notorious, sophisticated and horribly dangerous.

Back when I was in elementary school, my father used to talk to me about what he heard and believed. He said, "Hey son, don't sneeze on my diskettes or they might get infected with virus." Well, recalling that instance, I just can't stop from laughing.

A virus is just a computer program, like this famous browser you are currently using to view this article. However, this kind of program has some different purposes. Commonly, they would hide idle inside your computer’s hard disk and sit there until they will be opened by an unsuspicious user or by you. But once they are unleashed or you accidentally opened them, strange things will surely happen. Usually, naïve virus would simply replicate itself again and again, copying itself to the different folders and files you may have inside your computer. But then, even if a virus is just less than 1 Kilobyte in size, still it consumes your hard disk space without your consent and it’s really a matter of privacy invasion. The worst part however is when you get struck by some notorious viruses. These viruses are known to have some serious tasks of compromising one’s computer. Stealing passwords, emails, destroying files, stealing your connection bandwidth, and the scariest one is when a virus puts a key-logging mechanism to your PC. A Key-logger is a small software or program capable of monitoring users’ activities (keyboard activity, mouse activity, etc) and records them into a secret file which later will be periodically sent to the criminal. Now, have you think of buying online lately using your credit card number? Well, that’s the focal point of this article. People must be paranoid always with their use of personal computers. I guess, it wouldn’t take a few drops of perspiration and a single penny if you just follow what I’m going to say.

Here are the tips that you may adapt in your daily use of computers:

As much as possible, be aware that once your computer has connected to the internet, it is connected to the wild. The Internet is fraught with hackers, worms, viruses, malwares and other scams, so having those in mind will somehow make you witty and cautious in anything you do on the internet.

Be careful of downloading cracked software and key generators (program for generating serial numbers for unregistered software). If you really insist using them, just be sure you have an updated anti-virus installed on your PC.

Use a decent antivirus. Free ones are good, but most of them are limited. So if you are maintaining some golden data in your PC, it’s worth it sometimes to spend some extras for buying registered anti-virus.

Update your O.S. (Operating System) as much as possible. Worms work by exploiting the flaws that exist with your outdated O.S. Remember the Code Red Virus? It attacked vulnerable computers by taking advantage of a flaw that was present in previous version of Windows XP and similar operating systems.

Everyone cannot live without the Email. Same as with some viruses and worms, they cannot live without the Email, for their common way of transferring themselves to the target victims are through emails. So be wary, don’t just open emails that are suspicious. If you are not sure what you are seeing, better delete them and look out for their attachments. Usually, infected emails have attachments.

Flash Disks, Removable Drives, Thumb Drives, however you call them are currently the common carriers of viruses, Trojans and worms. If you are using them in public internet cafes, be extra careful when you use them back in your home computers. One good tip would be, to open the files in your removable drives, don’t just double-click on your Removable Drive account in the Windows Explorer. If that drive is infected, and double-clicking it, will simply run the virus inside that drive. So the best thing you should do, is scan them first using your anti-virus. The practical and safest way of opening your removable drives is this, Right-Click on the Drive icon and click on Explore. It’s different than double-clicking the Drive icon itself. That way, a virus cannot usually run through that simple method.

Lastly, spread these words. Save your friends, families, bosses, co-worker etc. Let them know of the dangers that lurk in everyone’s computer. Discuss with them these simple tips, that way; we can boost everybody’s awareness. If everyone has been fairly educated about computer viruses, I don’t think they can still survive until these days.


Arthur Wayne
World of Compendium