Posted by MikeC on Thursday, April 15, 2004 at 6:06AM :
In Reply to: computer troubles - viruses and worms posted by RDavis on Thursday, April 15, 2004 at 0:32AM :
"I don't use a anti-virus program"
Uh, if you don't use an antivirus program how do you know you don't have a computer virus? Without AV software you won't know you have it! Most viruses/trojans/spyware do not announce their presence on a system so someone foolish enough to be without the proper protection will continue to spread the infected files or will continue to be used by a hacker for DOS attacks.
There are a number of viruses/trojans that you can get just by going to a webpage (ever hear of the bytefly?)
Many viruses are transmitted via email from someone without antivirus software or someone who does not have up-to-date antivirus software on their system. All they need is someones email address in their address book and if they get infected then everyone in their address book gets infected emails. It's not because they are going somewhere they should not. That is a foolish comment and should be laid to rest.
I just gave a series of presentations to city and county government leaders at the Scheman Center at Iowa State University about the problems with Badware (viruses, trojans, spyware and scumware). The statistics are amazing (I'll be happy to post the raw numbers if anyone is interested, but let's just say for now they are huge). In this day in age, antivirus software, a firewall, and spyware removal tools are a must for every computer that connects to the Internet. It is irresponsible to be without them.
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