Security Help Center
This site features articles , links, and tools to help answer questions regarding computer security and privacy issues and to protect your identity while surfing the web. The information on this page was selected based on commonly asked questions, and frequently encountered problems. No warranty is expressed or implied. Inetplanet assumes no liability for damages, loss of data, productivity, profits, etc. that may result from actions taken based on the information cont ained herein. Please always do your own research to confirm any information found on the world wide web.
Alerts:
Viruses, Trojans, Threats, & Hoaxes
McAfee Alert::
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Viruses
Viruses are malicious software components that self-replicate. They are passed from one computer system to another by various means, often inflicting some kind of damage, such as data loss, on each infected host. These may impede the functioning of your computer and in some cases render it useless. They may compromise your computer security and privacy and damage other systems with which you interact. Trojans Trojans do not copy themselves and spread from one computer to another as viruses do. They are typically manually installed (unknowingly) by the user. Trojans are known to spread by e-mail, peer-to-peer systems, chat and messaging software, web pages, and other means. These malicious programs hide themselves on the host computer and can be quite difficult to remove. Trojans typically will run in the background, consuming the computers resources, often using the host's internet connection to perform some task such as sending spam e-mails or stealing private data. Worms A worm is a particular kind of virus. A worm resides in memory on the host computer and may also be designed to spread to other computers. It replicates in memory and destroys data and code as it executes. Hoaxes Hoaxes are not actual viruses. They are phoney virus warnings, jokes, pranks, and scares that attempt to trick the user into thinking they have malicious software installed on their machine or are at risk for the aforementioned. Sometimes hoaxes precede actual viruses, desensitizing users to the real threat that follows. Hoaxes are also used to encourage users to download and installed either malicious or benign software. Resources There are numerous web sites that maintain lists of current viruses, Trojans, hoaxes, and other threats. Several of these also provide some free tools for removing specific malware. It is suggested that anti-virus software be installed on PCs and regularly maintained with up-to-date virus definitions. Some valuable resources are:
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