Free Articles at Neutron Marketing Article Publishing and Distribution » Computers-and-technology » How You Can Help Stop Internet Virus Attacks
Previous Article - How To Spot Common Spam Scams
Next Article - Computer speed check

View PDF | Print View | Html Version
by: PaulWilcox
Total views: 1
Word Count: 438

It's pretty common knowledge these days that you need to run some kind of antivirus protection on your computer. But it's not commonly known that the computers that make up the internet are also at risk. What's being done to protect them?

Computer viruses attack servers - web, file, ftp and e-mail, along with routers and other network gear - along with individual PC's.

Most of these servers are really not all that different from the average desktop computer. They probably have more memory, bigger hard drives and faster CPUs but the underlying technology is much the same.

Because of that fact, they're often vulnerable to the same viruses and other internet security threats that the average desktop system is. They also need to run antivirus software, firewalls and other forms of protection.

What Options Do They Have?

These servers can be servicing thousands of users at the same time in some cases so they're a popular target for the virus writers. As a user on these systems, you can help keep them virus-free by making sure your own computer is. And their system administrators can help by limiting what kinds of programs get installed on them.

When you keep your computer protect against online security threats, you're helping to minimize the target area for hackers. It's also necessary to keep your computer updated with the latest operating system and browser patches. You may even want to consider running a more secure web browser, such as Firefox, instead of Internet Explorer.

Avoid booting from or loading software from CD's, DVD's or other disks that haven't been scanned for viruses, if you're not sure of the source. If a single file on one of those disks contains a virus, it can spread like wildfire.

FTP servers, used to store and provide sending and receiving of files over networks, should become a thing of the past. Vanilla ftp (File Transfer Protocol) can't be secured since passwords are passed in clear text (unencrypted) over the network where they can be picked up by sniffers. Sniffers are software and/or hardware used to spy on networks. Secure FTP versions should be used instead.

Users should take an active role in encouraging administrators to lock down systems. Most admins do a very good job with limited time and resources, but security is usually well down their list of priorities. Users who show an interest can alter that in a constructive way by showing that they care. Very few servers have a thorough check by a skilled security expert at any time in their serviceable lifetimes. That would change if users didn't passively assume by default that everything is fine until things go sour.

About the Author

Is your computer secure enough? Find out what you should be doing to keep it safe from viruses, spyware and other online security threats at the Online Security Toolkit website. Visit http://www.onlinesecuritytoolkit.com for more information.

---

Rating: Not yet rated

--Choose-- 0 1 2 3 4 5

No comments posted.

Add Comment

Enter the code shown