I wondered
if my machine was infected with any viruses
today. So I ran a free online virus checker (HouseCall)
from Trend Micro (makes of PC-cillin)...
http://housecall.antivirus.com/
It simply
scans your files for viruses remotely.
(There's another
free one at http://www.pandasoftware.com )
Thankfully
it found nothing.
I still maintain
that you'd have to be very unlucky
to be infected with a virus without opening an email
attachment or running a file downloaded from the
Internet.
(technically
it is possible to be infected without
opening an email attachment through active scripting
exploiting a few security loopholes, but the most
prevalent viruses and worms around today still require
you to run an executable file, either delivered as a
download or an email attachment).
The only time
I've been infected with a virus was
years ago when I was stupid enough to run an unknown
email attachment.
...so that's
once in five years.
Trend Micro
say on their site...
1: If you
receive an email with an attached file from
an unknown source, simply delete it.
2: Viruses
and Trojan programs must have code that is
executed in order to infect. If you "double-click" an
attached file on an email message, you are executing
code and may infect your machine. (Note: Newer
antivirus software is capable of scanning these
attachments before they are opened.)
For more tips,
see...
http://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/safe_computing/
To check how
secure your email is, see...
http://www.gfi.com/emailsecuritytest/
More tools
and info from Symantec...
http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/
Thanks to
Bob Mulholland for several of the links in
this InfoShock. Bob posted the info to the Internet
Success Forum...
http://www.InternetSuccessForum.com/
...including
this one for free antivirus software...
http://www.grisoft.com
This InfoShock was written by Neil Shearing, Ph.D.
To get your free copy of his Internet Success
Newsletter, visit the www.ScamFreeZone.com
