GEN008 November 2000
An Introduction to Computer Viruses
Ward Takamiya and Jocelyn Kasamoto
Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1
What is a Virus? ..................................................................................................................... 1
How Do Viruses Spread? ....................................................................................................... 1
How Can You Protect Yourself? ............................................................................................ 2
Getting Anti-virus Software ................................................................................................... 2
Keeping it Current .................................................................................................................. 2
I May Have a Virus. Now What? .......................................................................................... 3
More Information ................................................................................................................... 3
Introduction
This document covers the basics on computer viruses. Please take some time to peruse the information
to obtain an overall understanding of the concern and how to safeguard yourself from the dangers of
viruses.
What is a Virus?
A computer virus is one of thousands of programs that can invade computer systems (both IBM PC and
Macintosh) and perform a variety of functions ranging from annoying (e.g., popping up messages as a
joke) to dangerous (e.g., deleting files or destroying your hard disk). Trojan horses or worms are
specific types of clandestine programs (loosely categorized as viruses) and can be just as dangerous. For
simplicity’s sake, future mention of viruses in this document will refer to viruses, Trojan horses, and
worms taken as a whole.
How Do Viruses Spread?
Computer viruses are programs that must be triggered or somehow executed before they can infect your
computer system and spread to others. Examples include opening a document infected with a “macro
virus,” booting with a diskette infected with a “boot sector” virus, or double-clicking on an infected
program file. Viruses can then be spread by sharing infected files on a diskette, network drive, or other
media, by exchanging infected files over the Internet via e-mail attachments, or by downloading
questionable files from the Internet.
An Introduction to Computer Viruses GEN008
How Can You Protect Yourself?
With dangerous viruses on the network, what can computer users do to protect their systems? Here are
just a few hints:
• Be sure to install an anti-virus software program (see the next section) to guard against virus
attacks. Also, be sure you turn on the scanning features. It can’t protect you if it’s not enabled.
• Practice caution when working with files from unknown or questionable sources.
• Do not open e-mail attachments if you do not recognize the sender (though you may also receive
viruses from people you know). Scan the attachments with anti-virus software before opening
them.
• Download files only from reputable Internet sites, and be wary when exchanging diskettes or
other media with friends.
• Scan your hard drive for viruses monthly.
Even with these precautions, new viruses may find ways to enter your computer system.
Getting Anti-virus Software
Anti-virus software are programs that are installed onto your computer and can scan and remove known
viruses which you may have contracted. The software can also be set to automatically scan diskettes
when inserted into the disk drive, scan files when downloaded from the Internet, or scan e-mail when
received.
University of Hawai‘i faculty, staff, and students are eligible for a copy of one of the following ITS-
supported anti-virus software programs free of charge:
McAfee VirusScan for Windows
(www.hawaii.edu/downloads/mcafee/virusscan.html), or
Virex for Macintosh
(www.hawaii.edu/downloads/mcafee/virex.html)
Visit www.hawaii.edu/sitelic/antivirus for download information.
The above site-licensed software are also on the ITS CD-ROM which is available at the ITS Help Desk
in Keller Hall 105 on the M noa campus.
Note: Be sure to have only one anti-virus program running on your system.
Multiple programs may cause conflicts and system instability.
Keeping it Current
Even with active monitoring of computer systems, anti-virus software can only protect against viruses
that it knows about. For this reason, update files (generally called Definition Files) for anti-virus
software are needed every time there is a new virus release. On the Windows platform, this means an
update roughly every week; the Macintosh has fewer new viruses to worry about so updates are usually
done monthly. The software that ITS distributes has an “Auto Update” feature to automatically connect
to a Web site and download the latest Definition Files. Refer to the documentation to turn this feature on
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