| True or false? It is generally safe to open e-mail messages from a known source, such as a friend or co-worker. Two or three years ago, the answer was true. Today, however, it's false. Many new computer viruses replicate by e-mailing infected attachments to people in your address book. These new developments are throwing yet another roadblock in the paths of business owners and computer professionals combating viruses. "We are definitely seeing more problems with viruses because of e-mail," said Joe Balsarotti, owner of Software To Go, a computer equipment, software and consulting firm. "Service work to correct virus damage has gone from a once a quarter occurrence to a twice to three times a month. In addition, the viruses now do far more damage and people have far, far more data on their machines." As businesses rely more heavily on computers to help them run their businesses, they know the near hysteria that occurs when a computer virus is unleashed onto the hard drives of unsuspecting computers. Viruses can erase files, scramble files, format your hard disk or simply delete everything on your hard disk. Other less-destructive viruses—known as prank viruses—are merely irritating. Others are programmed to hide for weeks, months or years, slowly scrambling information on your computer's hard disk. By some estimates, there are more than 50,000 computer viruses at large in the world, with hundreds more released each week. Jim Andrews, owner of Q&A Business Solutions, said some firms simply aren't prepared for a possible virus attack. "A lot of businesses don't have an e-mail policy or an anti-virus policy," Andrews said. "That's what really gets them in trouble. They have the feeling that it will never happen to them." hotels FunchalA computer virus is a self-replicating program. Viruses are set loose on unsuspecting computer users by people who think it is fun, or challenging, to hurt others they don't know. How can you tell you have a virus? Some viruses advertise their presence, displaying messages like, "This computer is stoned!" or "Remember the Alamo!" Others cause a variety of bad behavior in your computer system. The infected system might slow down dramatically or generate sporadic errors. Word-processing documents might spontaneously scramble themselves. Files might not save correctly. Error messages might appear. If you notice prolonged bad behavior on the part of your computer system, you might suspect a virus. Who is at risk? Just about anyone with a PC, especially those surfing the Internet and receiving files from others on a consistent basis. In order to avoid problems from unscrupulous e-mails, Software To Go's Balsarotti suggests businesses adopt an e-mail policy for employees. "Unfortunately for most businesses, much e-mail is for noncompany correspondence, such as jokes, junk passed from friend to friend, advertisements, etc.," he said. "When the average employee is receiving 20-50 e-mail messages a day and only 10 are for company business, the easiest way to reduce the possibility of virus damage is to develop and enforce a 'business-use only' policy. And if you don't know who is sending an e-mail message, the best thing to do is delete. While limiting your e-mail messages will help, there is no 100% preventative cure for viruses. However, there are several things you can do to help prevent them:
 You should have virus protection on all workstations.
The two leading utilities are Norton AntiVirus and McAfee's VirusScan. Both can scan your PC when you boot up or on command, let you schedule exams to run periodically, and retrieve the latest catalogs of known viruses from the Internet. Update your software regularly. Almost all good antivirus products are based on "virus signatures" and have to be updated on a regular basis. The signatures are like electronic fingerprints that help the virus-protection software locate and remove viruses. Without an up-to-date virus signature file, your virus-scanning software can't do its best job. Businesses might even consider buying a product that automatically downloads and installs them. Experts estimate that as many as 60% of the computers used in the United States are operating with outdated virus protection software, or have no protection at all, according to Zdnet, an online clearinghouse for computer information. "Computers must be maintained," Balsarotti said. "Virus protection is part of that maintenance. Just as cars require a 'grease job and oil change,' computers need a 'tune up' also. John Vines of Javelin Technologies, LLC, recommends businesses update their virus software regularly. "Keep in mind that even if you update your anti-virus software daily, it still won't guarantee that it will catch every virus," Vines said. "Virus definition files can't be created by the software companies until the virus has already been found, dissected and new code written to combat it. A period of a day or weeks can go by before the anti-virus software is updated to protect against a certain virus. Hamburg accommodation Even with the best virus protection available, businesses need periodic "clean boot" scans of their computer systems. A clean boot means that a separate diskette, one that is never otherwise used, is prepared and scanned for viruses. The virus-scanning software is loaded onto this diskette. Periodically, someone boots all the computer systems from the diskette and checks them for viruses. Periodically back-up files. Backing up files is like flossing your teeth. We all know we need to, but we never seem to get around to it. Once a virus attacks, there's little to do except make repairs. The only way to restore your damaged files is from a clean backup. "The best protection from virus attacks is to maintain accurate and current backups, as well as backups going back several weeks," said Paul Swarthout, owner of Antidote Computer Services, Inc. The first line of attack may be to make sure company files are backed up properly so if a virus, if caught, does not wreak absolute havoc. Said Swarthout, "Ultimately, your best protection will be your ability to recover from a virus attack." > See also: Computing & Information Technology store_vs_468x60_2.gif | 
