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Viruses - how to avoid and recognise within email (attachments)

How do you avoid and recognise viruses?

Viruses can cause a slight annoyance (e.g. displaying pop-up messages at differing times) to completely trashing a PC.  With the increased use of email many viruses arrive at your PC through email attachments. 

To infect your PC you would need to open the attachment, if you are unsure of either the source of the email or the attachment DO NOT open it, delete the email and attachment.   TAKE CARE NOT TO RUN any suspect attachment when investigating an email. 

*CURRENTLY the type of attachment that can and often do carry viruses are:

.exe, .com, .bat, .pif, .cmd, .js, .scr, .inf, .ins, .reg, .lnk, .scr, .shs, .url, .vb, .vbs, .wsc, .wsf, .wsh, .doc (and ALL other Microsoft office file types)

*File types that can not currently carry viruses:

.jpg, .gif, .txt, .rtf, .pdf, .mp3, .wav

Currently these file types are unable to carry an infected payload, but maybe it's only a matter of time as all file types start to use their own embedded data to control the target application.....

"I'm SAFE, I have my MicroBoffinTech anti-virus installed and updated".  Is this statement correct? Yes, and no.  Yes, the PC should be protected against all KNOWN viruses, but what about the new viruses that have yet to be reported!

Therefore, to avoid viruses DO NOT open attachments unless it's essential and you are sure of the source. AND be prepared for the worst: backup all your data regularly.

Removing viruses and virus Hoaxes. 

There are a growing number of hoax viruses - knowing which are real and which are not can save you much anxiety.

Check now for real/hoax viruses and find out how to remove them if your PC is infected here:
http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/search.html

*This list of file extensions is not exhaustive and is only offered as a general guide to the most commonly infected file types.



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