How many times has your computer been infected?
'Double Whammy' Virus
Attack
a RPStaff Reprt
When one of our readers wrote
to us about being infected twice within two months by a virus, it
really struck a major chord. We had just experienced the same
type of a one-two punch and went through an agonizing recovery
period.
She had installed a free firewall that came with her
computer. The worm got thru, so after cleaning it out, she
installed one of the popular name brand firewalls and virus
protection programs... but was again hit by the Blaster worm.
It sounds as if she had the same experience that we had recently.
The 'Blaster' virus hit us twice within two months. I had a
firewall and an online virus scanning program and was careful about
opening only email from senders that I recognized.
The virus disabled our 'C' drive so we couldn't boot up.
The 'C' Drive had to be 'wiped' both times and the operating
system was re-installed, as well. Painful, to say the least.
We're still recovering.
So, here's what I do
now, and maybe this will help you.
1. When I open my mail
server and look at the list of new messages, I start at the
top and immediately Delete any that got past my filters and
still look suspicious.
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2. If there is an
attached file to an email that I'd like to keep, I download it
to a floppy and virus scan the floppy before I open the
attachment. THEN I decide if that file can be opened.
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3. I manually initiate a
complete scan of my system at least once a week.
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4. When my
McAfee.com online Virus
Scanning program alerts me to new updates,
I stop what I'm
doing and immediately do a system virus scan of my whole
computer. |
5. I do the same when my
Firewall provider pops open a new update message.
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6. There are two
partitions on the computer I use for internet activities - a
'C' drive and a 'D' drive. I save all of my Data files and
everything else that is important to folders on the 'D' drive.
I also save some of my application files to 'D'.
After reinstalling the Operating System the first time, I
found that everything on the 'D' drive was still intact. The
first system virus scan then took a look at those data and
files to disinfect and repair any with possible bugs.
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7. I try to backup vital
data to an Iomega Zip disk
or external hard drive. I also back up some
application files to a CD. This is not the perfect answer for
recovering full programs because the data in the Registry is
lost when the 'C' drive is wiped
clean...
and there's always the situation where DLL's are lost.
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8. I have just started to
consolidate all of my password and internet addresses of my
'Favorites' into a log book instead of on printouts and files
in too many folders and file drawers.
An indexed telephone directory or address book makes a great
place to keep this information. It's really helpful when
trying to restore sanity after wiping the 'C' drive. |
9. Someday I'd like to get
my hands on those mentally and morally
challenged individuals that devise and release these viruses, worms
and Trojans. I know that
this will never happen,
so I
follow points 1 to 8 above.
There doesn't seem to be an absolutely 100 percent, never fail,
perfect tool to defeat the hackers malicious attacks. There are
hundreds of tools and programs available to fight this enemy. Google
will help you find them; many can be downloaded from the c|Net
website.
...Richard Rossbauer
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