Keeping the Bugs Out
Throughout this year, many of us have had the unfortunate experience of losing a number of important files on our computer due to the unexpected intrusion of a computer virus. Like some health viruses, it can leave you with a headache, upset stomach, high blood pressure and the need for a nerve pill. To prevent from having such unwanted, carefully developed applications from crashing your hard drive and permanently damaging your computer files, make sure you take the following precautions:
Have a reliable and frequently updated virus protection program running on your computer that automatically scans diskettes, e-mail and any attachments before it has the chance to infect your computer. LSUHSC has a site license for McAfee Antivirus. If you would like to install McAfee on your computer, please refer to our Spring-Summer 2001 newsletter article entitled Installing McAfee 4.5
You can also look up your virus at McAfee’s Virus Information Library to obtain more information on what kind of problems it may cause and how to clean it.
Sometimes, viruses are hoaxes. Pay attention to virus warnings from reliable sources and stay on the lookout. Several reliable sources for virus information as well as hoaxes are:
McAfee’s top 30 viruses viewed by Customers
If you receive e-mail from an unknown person, make sure your antivirus program is running prior to opening it. The Microsoft Exchange Servers at LSUHSCS are also enhanced with McAfee Antivirus software as a first line of defense for possible infected e-mail and attachments that arrive from outside sources.
If you are fortunate enough to have controlled a virus before it has had the opportunity to spread, make sure to report it to Computer Services so steps can be taken before your computer becomes infected and files are lost or corrupted. Please contact Desktop Support at x5470 menu option 2 or e-mail us at SHV PC HELPDESK.
For more tips on dealing with viruses, please visit McAfee’s Antivirus Center and read their Virus Detection and Prevention Tips