How Much Money would it cost you

How Much Money would it cost you to regain the use of your
computer after a serious virus infection?


Richard Rossbauer

It cost one of our friends a whole lot of money, much
aggravation and lost time, lost records, and a major
inconvenience to recover from the havoc caused by the worms and
viruses that had infiltrated their computer over a period of
many months.

Actually, our friends are like so many other people who use
their computers primarily for communicating with family and
their friends by email, sharing personal pictures, playing a few
games, doing a little research now and then, making airline and
hotel reservations, and maybe even balancing their check books.

Surfing the internet for them was just a sometime thing, not
necessarily a must-do daily routine.

They were aware of computer viruses and had even heard of
firewalls. Occasionally, public comments on TV and in newspapers
about wide sweeping virus attacks with odd names like ‘MyDoom’,
‘Sasser’, and ‘Bagel’ caught their attention.

After those reported epidemics were no longer news items, they
simply put them out of mind, and resumed use of the internet.

When they purchased their computer a few years ago, it came with
virus scanning software but not a Firewall program. So, they
believed ‘they were protected’!

The general public didn’t really care about Trojan Horse dangers
then, because no one was really making an effort to inform them
of the insidious efforts of Hackers, spammers, and malcontents
who were flooding the internet with their poison.

Even today, there are computer users who believe that they don’t
need a firewall. They aren’t aware that Firewalls help stop some
of the viruses and worms that are hidden in email attachments
and other downloaded information.

They aren’t aware of the new strains and variants of worms,
adware and other spyware programs that crop up nearly daily, or
that there are over 70,000 identified computer viruses.

They aren’t aware because for the past few years, their chances
of actually being infected by a computer virus were very small,
and spyware and adware weren't even discussed in the general
news media.

Not so any longer!

Some authoritive researchers have determined that the internet
is so dangerous today, that an unprotected computer connected to
the internet is likely to become infected within 20 minutes of
going on line.

A protected computer today MUST HAVE an up-to-date Firewall
program, up-to-date virus scanning software, up dated Spyware
scanning software programs, and the latest updates from the
manufacturers of their web browsers (MicroSoft’s Internet
Explorer in particular).

Unfortunately for our friends, they were not aware that their
anti-virus program needed to be brought up to date on a regular
basis. A few years ago, maybe a monthly update would have saved
them from their virus grief.

(Actually, they had never updated their anti-virus program at
all).

The safest way today is to use anti-virus and anti-spyware
software that can be programmed to download updates
automatically from the Software providers themselves.

Also true for Firewall program updates.

Today’s major scourge, however, seems to be the rampant spread
of spyware (keyloggers, adware, malicious software known as
‘malware’, all designed to be invisible, often self
propagating).

Spyware seeks information about you and your computer-use habits
that are private and personal. It is a threat that can often
lead to loss of a person’s identity, bank accounts, reputation
and employment.

There are major efforts on an international basis to stop the
spread of SPAM (unwanted email), that has been responsible for
much of the virus epidemic.

Viruses are spread in other ways, too. Downloaded music files,
downloaded programs and information gained from Chat Room
visits, hidden worms that activate just by clicking on links in
some unsolicited emails and pop-ups, are just a few.

There are other protective tools available at no cost (FREE)
from many of the software manufacturers of Firewalls, anti-virus
and spyware searching programs. Many are included with the email
services provided by AOL, Earthlink, MSN, etc.

These are primarily Pop-up blockers and virus scanners. The
ISP’s (Internet Service Providers) also scan for and filter out
email messages that look suspicious before being passed on to
you.

Pop-up blockers, spam filters, message blockers, and other
protective defenses can be installed on everyone’s personal
computer. They are often free, or relatively inexpensive.

Our friends now know a lot more about protecting themselves from
all of the dangers lurking in the Cyber-Jungle.

To clean out their infected computer, which required a clean
wipe of their hard drive, re-installation of their Operating
System, and an updated anti-virus program, they were charged
$180.00!

Needless to say, they have increased their defenses with updated
virus-scanning software, Firewall, and spyware scanners and
cleaners.

They learned a lesson the hard way, and they’ll help their
friends avoid the problems they experienced by sharing their
story and encouraging them to get their computers up to date and
prepared for the ever increasing threats by the spammers,
hackers and virus writers.

If you use the internet regularly, a subscription to one of the
security oriented newsletters can alert you to the latest
threats and provide helpful information for maintaining a
secure, virus free computer and avoiding potential identity
theft.

The “Security Alert News Reporter” published through the
Firewalls and Virus Protection website is free, it’s distributed
about once each month and is written in an easy to understand,
non-technical style.

A few minutes browsing there now might save you many hours of
agony and grief later.

(You can take part in the Computer Security Awareness Campaign
by Sharing this with a friend.)

About the author:
Richard started his "Firewalls and Virus Protection" website and
"Security Alert News Reporter" to help everyday internet users
safely navigate through the cyber space that has become a ‘Cyber
Jungle’, loaded with ambushes and booby-traps. He promotes his
"Computer Security Awareness Campaign" thru his website at
http://www.firewalls-and-virus-protection.com