Protecting Your Files

A common trend found in current viruses and worms is the senseless intent to delete and destroy files on the systems they infect. Maintaining a recent back-up of your data not only protects you from malicious and mischievous crackers, worms and viruses it also guards you from complete data loss in the case of system failure or damage. This simple precaution can save hours, or days, of rebuilding your system; and also save data that may be difficult, or impossible, to replace. Back-ups can be cheaply stored using a recordable CD-ROM drive for under a couple of dollars per gigabyte. And if you store the discs in a safe place, preferable at a different location away from your computer, and you will be a lot more prepared in case you ever need them.

[SUBHEAD]Virus Scanners[/SUBHEAD]
Creating a virus is now relatively straight forward thanks to the ready availability of virus development tools and our increased reliance on application scripting languages. Viruses can be transmitted through e-mail, files or by simply visiting a rogue web site. Some viruses allow crackers to install trojans to monitor you PC, some attempt to delete files and erase your hard drive, and some simply cause mischief by e-mailing everyone in your address book with a chain letter. With such a broad range of anti-virus products available such as Norton AntiVirus, PC-Cillin or McAfee VirusScan you’re playing a dangerous game by not installing one of these applications to guard your system against unwanted pests.

Windows Security Overview

Firewalls

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