1. You know right away that your system has been compromised. Your system suddenly becomes painfully slow, or you can no longer take control of your applications, or your operating system is unusable.

2. You are unaware that a virus has attached itself to your computer and bad things are happening in the background that you have no knowledge of. Your system acts slightly out of the ordinary.

How do you keep from being attacked?

1. Keep up-to-date backups of all your important data like pictures and personal files. You can't wait until after you are attacked - by then it may be too late.

2. Keep your system updated with the latest Windows Updates. Microsoft releases many enhancements and patches having to do with security that will make your system safer.

3. Run an antivirus program and keep it updated. Make sure it is performing a real-time or on-demand scan of your system to stop viruses as they appear. NOTE you can only install one anti-virus program on your system at a time.

   There are many antivirus programs available, some free and some you can buy.

   Microsoft maintains a list of antivirus program vendors. You can see the list here.

   Some systems may have come with a free copy of Computer Associates E-Trust antivirus, with a limited subscription of virus definition updates (virus definitions allow your antivirus program to understand how to scan for the latest viruses that are released).

   A short list of free antivirus programs:

   • Avast 4 Home: http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html
   • AVG free AV: http://free.avg.com/
   • Microsoft Security Essentials: http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/
   • Microsoft free system scan: http://safety.live.com Full Service Scan is recommended
   • F-Secure Free Easy Clean: http://www.f-secure.com/en_EMEA/security/security-center/easy-clean/
   • Microsoft Malware Removal Tool: http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx

4. Keep your built-in firewall turned on. If you are using a broadband connection to the Internet, you can optionally purchase and install a hardware router - this will provide a very comprehensive firewall to protect your system from attacks from the Internet.

5. Install and keep updated anti-spyware programs like Ad-Aware http://www.lavasoft.com/ and Spybot Search And Destroy http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html.

6. Do not open attachments in emails unless you have confirmed with the sender that it is legitimate (many viruses propagate by sending the virus in an email to all persons in your address book).

7. Be wary what web page you go to - some web site pages have hidden scripts embedded in the page that can infect your system.

8. Be careful what programs you install - only install programs you obtain from a known, legitimate source.

9. Do not place unknown media in your system - if you find a floppy, CD or flash drive, make sure you virus scan it before allowing it to auto run on your system (to keep inserted media from auto-running, hold down the left shift key when inserting the media).

What to do if you have already been infected by a virus?

First you should remove the infected system from the local network and/or the Internet.

You can normally only remove a virus by using an anti-virus program. You should run a virus scan to see if the virus infection can be removed - this may require putting the system onto the Internet to allow the anti-virus program access to the latest updates. Sometimes you can search the Internet for a way to remove an offending virus, but this may require more time and effort than the normal user is able to invest.

The other way to deal with a virus is to start over with a fresh operating system install. You may need to do this if your operating system is so corrupt you cannot run a virus scan. If you don't have any important data on your hard drive, you can just wipe the drive and reinstall the operating system. If you do have important data that you need to try to keep, you have two choices:

• Copy all the important data off the hard drive (which may be difficult if the virus will not give you access to the current operating system).

- or -

• Replace the hard drive with another hard drive, install the operating system onto the new hard drive and make sure you have a good anti-virus program installed and updated, then add your original hard drive as a second hard drive and perform a full virus scan on the drive to see if the infection can be removed from your data. If it can, you will be able to copy your data over to your new hard drive. If you can't remove the virus from your data or your data was corrupted, the data may be lost unless you have a backup of the data somewhere else.

Once you are certain you have the virus cleaned from the system, you should do a thorough virus scan of any other systems on the local network before adding your system back onto the network.

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