Internet Security ABC - Top Five Worst Viruses and How to Protect Your Computer against Them

Top Five Worst Viruses and How to Protect Your Computer against Them

Trying to pick out the worst five computer viruses is much like giving a person a choice of execution methods: firing squad, hanging, electrocution, gas chamberall are hideous. But let's talk about a few of the most well known offenders.

The Sasser and Netsky works were created by an 18 year old named Sven Jaschan, a native of Waffensen, Germany. Jaschan was a member of what was called the Skynet Gang, a group of hackers who enjoyed writing these works, which authorities say delivered a crushing blow to corporate networks and internet users around the world. Police said that the Skynet Gang delivered the most significant virus attacks in 2004. Other worms that have caused great harm are the FunLove and SirCam worms, which arrive in a person's email box and can send themselves to different users in a computer's

address book. Another notorious worm was CodeRed, which jumped from one computer to another.

Worms and viruses have caused so much Internet traffic when replicating themselves that the entire Internet has slowed down, bogged down and almost ground to a halt. Trying to protect your computer? The first step is always a good anti virus program. You may well have received a trial copy of one of the better anti virus programs when you purchased your computer. Among the good programs to use are McAfee's Viruscan and Virex, Symantec's Norton AntiVirus, Trend Micro's PC-cillin, and AVG. After installing your anti virus software the next step is to keep it up to date. An out of date anti virus program can be even more dangerous to you than not having a virus program at all. The false sense of security provided by the old, out of date program can lead to unwarranted confidence. Keep your software updated often.

Remember that it wasn't that long ago that millions of computer users checked their email one morning and found their inbox filled with notes, bearing the subject line the inscription "I love you." This was the I Love You virus, also known as the Love Bug, a dastardly and fiendish program that preyed on human nature by disguising itself as a love note, with an email attachment. People were not use to viruses when the Love Bug came out. Most people would open email attachments at will, with no regard for safety. It was the computer equivalent of the 1970's, before the AIDS crisis made people aware of the need for safe sex. The Love Bug worked its way around the world, attacking Disney World, attacking the Pentagon, attacking major corporations and government networks, and messing with literally millions of computer users. The world was never the same again.

The Love Bug and other worms point out another method of protecting yourself against these threats. In addition to the use of anti virus software, common sense may be the best weapon. If you receive an email with an attachment, don't open the attachment. Only open attachments that you are expecting, arriving from people you know and trust.

One question that most people have when it comes to viruses and worms is this: why do people create them? What kind of social outcast would spend his time, and expend his mental energy to create a computer virus that has as its purpose destruction of other people's computes, costing them time and money and endless frustration. What kind of person would do that?

Authorities believe that hackers who create computer viruses are usually above average in intelligence, but socially disaffected. They are the same personalities who often abuse drugs and a few years ago would have been out getting into trouble and being chased by the police. In the modern age they can sit at home on a computer causing more grief that would be possible in the real world in person. Many hackers write the viruses and then post them on web sites for others to pick up and use, much like a rogue state buying guns for a terrorist organization. But as the world's police organizations become more sophisticated, more and more of these cyber terrorists are being caught and punished. In the meantime, take all steps possible to keep your computer safe from cyber attack.

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Internet Security
◦ Are You an Enabler? What Enabling Cookies
◦ Can the Spam-How to Filter Out All the Unnecessary Junk
◦ Channel the Cookie Monster in You - Computer Cookies Can Be Bad For Your Computer's Health
◦ Chat Room Challenge - Five Tips to Ensure Your Anonymity
◦ Computer Band-aid - How to Know if You Need to Download that Security Patch
◦ Computer Deep Freeze - Ten Tips to Keep your PC Up and Running
◦ Computer Junkyard - Does Spam Filtering Really Help?
◦ Dial-Up vs. Broadband - Which is the Safer Alternative?
◦ Doesn't Ad up - Three Things that Adware does to your Computer
◦ Don't Click No! How to Safely Close those Pop-up Windows
◦ Don't Get Hacked Off-How to Stop Computer Interlopers in their Tracks
◦ Exercise Parental Control - Five Tips to Keep Kids Safe on the Internet
◦ Exterminate those Bugs on your PC
◦ Getting Down With Downloads - How to Protect Your Computer
◦ Hijacked at Home - Five Steps to Protect Your Home PC
◦ Identity Theft via Internet Security Flaws
◦ Inoculate Yourself against Computer Viruses
◦ Internet Anonymizers - Why and When You Should Use Them
◦ Key Logging Capers Part Two - Three Reasons why it is a Problem
◦ Key Logging Capers - Three Reasons Why You Need It
◦ Let's Go Phishing! - Five Ways to Avoid Being Hooked by This Scam
◦ Maintaining Your Privacy on the Internet - Five Things you can do
◦ Malicious Instant Messages-Three Ways Instant Messaging Compromises Internet Security
◦ Malware is bad for your Computer
◦ Picking Blackberries - Why Mobile Technology Needs More Security
◦ Pound Those Pop-Ups
◦ Six Tips for Staying Healthy in a Computer Virus World
◦ Something Doesn't Register - Cleaning your Computer's Registry for Safety
◦ Spies Everywhere - What is Spyware and Why is it so Bad?
◦ Squash those Worms - Four Ways to Keep your PC Critter-Free
◦ That Wasn't Scripted! Why Scripted Viruses are Bad News
◦ The Basics of Internet Website Encryption
◦ The Cookie Monster - How Do Cookies Influence Internet Security?
◦ The Digital Certificate - What's It Mean and Why is It Important?
◦ Three Benefits to Using an Internet Remailer
◦ Three Reasons to Wipe Your Computer's Internet History Files Clean
◦ Three Ways that an Internet Firewall Can Be Compromised
◦ Three Ways to Identify a Virus Hoax
◦ Three Ways to make sure your Online Credit Card Transaction is Safe
◦ Toolbar Traps - What You Should Know BEFORE Downloading that "Helpful" Toolbar
◦ Top Five Reasons to Install a Firewall
◦ Top Five Spyware Threats to Internet Security
◦ Top Five Vulnerable Areas in Internet Security
◦ Top Five Worst Viruses and How to Protect Your Computer against Them
◦ Top Four Ways to Ensure a Secure Password
◦ Top Ten Tools to Boost your Internet Security
◦ What IP Addresses Mean in the Scheme of Internet Security
◦ When Formatting the Hard Drive is Your Only Recourse

Internet Privacy
◦ Remote Access Trojans Hijacking your Computer
◦ Precautions You Should Take When Installing WiFi in your Home
◦ Sold! How to Maintain your Privacy and Still Indulge in Online Auctions
◦ Social Networking Be Careful of What You Post!
◦ Sneaky Ways to Get Around those Internet Privacy Issues

Identity Theft
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◦ Facts on Identity Theft
◦ Fighting Identity Theft

ID Theft

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