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Vaccinate Your Computer System
Virus prevention tips that
minimize your risk of infection
BY FRED ODE
Welcome to flu season.
Well, actually, we said
hello to the arrival of this
nasty virus a good month or so ago. It
came with a flurry this year, the media
calling it a strong mutated strain with
deadly potential. The majority of us did
what we could to protect ourselves by
getting vaccinated, washing our hands
until they turned raw and steering clear
of anyone sneezing, wheezing or otherwise
looking suspiciously ill. Lucky for
us humans, the season peaks in February
and fades away. Our computer
counterparts, on the other hand, are
exposed to deadly virus attacks all year
long. These strikes can substantially
hurt our business and put a dent in our
reputation as well.
A computer’s “flu” is every company’s
worst nightmare. A new virus gets
past your company defense mechanisms
(that is, if you have any) and
wreaks havoc on your network. The net
effect of a single computer virus?
Downtime and lost work, which triggers
lack of productivity and loss of
money. And should you unwittingly
pass the virus onto your customers or
vendors, a substantial mark on the
company reputation.
And if all this isn’t bad enough, it
gets worse. It has been reported that
over 1,000 new viruses designed to
attack the computer masses are written
each month. The majority of these
new viruses will still be carried through
casual e-mail contact, but a rising trend
in virus transmittal is coming from other,
less obvious methods of infection.
These can include open network file
shares, visiting a contaminated website,
application holes in popular software
and Internet browsers...the list
goes on and on.
Many nasty germs
Virus writers are never at a loss for new
ideas either. Just look at some of their
more memorable masterpieces:
SQL Slammer virus
This sneaky little code used a known
vulnerability in Microsoft’s SQL server
application to spread its infection. And
it did so rapidly.
MiMail
Some viruses use social engineering to
make their way onto your PC. The
recent “MiMail” strain of viruses appeared
to be a legitimate email from
PayPal–stating that the user’s account
had expired–and that their credit card
information was needed to re-open
their account. The email then directed
users to a spoofed PayPal
website–where unsuspecting users
gave their credit card information directly
to the virus writers.
Dumaru
The Dumaru virus falsely claimed to be
from Microsoft Security and offered
users a patch to help protect their PCs
from a “newly discovered vulnerability.”
Once “installed,” this virus would log
and report keystrokes back to the virus
writers.
W32.Swen
The W32.Swen strain exploits a vulnerability
in Microsoft Outlook and Outlook
Express in an attempt to execute itself
when you open or even preview the
message. It also attempts to spread
through popular file-sharing networks,
such as KaZaA and IRC, and it also
attempts to kill antivirus and personal firewall programs running on a computer in its dastardly
way..
Doctor, doctor
The good news: There are many precautions that you
can take to minimize the risk of exposing your hardware
and company network to a virus. Although not a
miracle cure-all, done properly these tips offer some
level of protection. These virus prevention techniques
include:
Make sure that every PC in the company has antivirus
software installed and frequently updated (all
antivirus vendors offer regular updates so that the application
can identify the latest viruses). Your antivirus
application is only as good as the “last known virus.”
Schedule and run periodic antivirus scans. These
scans can take up substantial PC and server
resources, so it’s best to schedule them during off-peak
hours (such as during lunch time and overnight hours).
Implement a secure firewall to protect the internal
company network from the outside world. A firewall is
a system designed to prevent unauthorized access to
an internal network. Firewalls can be implemented
using hardware, software or a combination of both. All
messages entering or leaving the internal company
pass through the firewall, which examines each one
and blocks those that do not meet specified criteria.
Stop unnecessary services from running on
servers. Examples of these vary widely depending on
network needs, but may include blocking or restricting
use of FTP (File Transfer Protocol), SNMP (Simple
Network Management Protocol) and SMTP (Simple
Mail Transfer Protocol), just to name a few.
Establish clear company rules about opening e-mail
attachments and publicize them to your employees.
When in doubt, check with the sender prior to opening.
NEVER click on attachments from dubious e-mails.
Implement policies that prohibit employees from
downloading games, screensavers or executable files.
Keep applications and PCs patched/updated (for
instance, SQL 2000 server has service pack 3a available
for download).
Scan your network and remove highly vulnerable
file sharing programs (such as KaZaA and Bearshare)
and low security Internet chat programs (such as IRC).
Hopefully, this advice will help you to avoid getting
hit by any of the numerous virus strains that travel the
Information Superhighway. However, you do need to
remember that these are only preventive maintenance
measures. It is still possible to get hit by viruses, even
when you play by all of the rules.
Fred Ode is the founder and chairman/CEO of Foundation
Software, Inc. Ode developed a construction-specific
accounting software, Foundation for Windows,
that suits a range of trades. For more information, visit
www.foundationsoft.com or call 800-246-0800.
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