Preventive maintenance from virus, spyware, and worm
This article describes preventive measures for protecting against viruses, spyware, and worms.
This article describes preventive measures for protecting against viruses, spyware, and worms.
Overview
Viruses, worms, trojan horses and spyware are malicious software (malware) that are covertly loaded onto your computer through infected e-mail, bogus software, from an infected Web site, or simply by connecting to a network that has an infected machine on it. This malicious code can:
- steal information behind the scenes (like your credit card number, passwords, personal files on your hard drive, or e-mail addresses in your address book)
- load files onto your hard drive (including offensive content, or spam messages)
- corrupt or delete personal files or programs on your hard drive
- slow your computer's performance
- e-mail itself to people in your address book
Internet worms can by themselves search, find, and infect unprotected computers that are logged on the Internet within a half hour. All computers have ports that are used to communicate with their own peripherals and with the outside world. Hackers can seize control and attack these well-known ports. Like a backdoor, these ports must be secured and locked with firewall software to keep out intruders, and to protect your system from attack.
Symptoms of infection
- Your system becomes slow, unstable, and crashes.
- Your browser displays pop-up advertisements when you start your computer, or when your system has been idle.
- Your browser's home page unexpectedly changes.
- Web pages are unexpectedly added to your Favorites folder.
- New toolbars are unexpectedly added to your Web browser.
- You cannot start a program.
- When you click a link in a program, the link does not work.
- Your browser suddenly closes or stops responding.
- It takes a much longer time to start or to resume your computer.
- Components of Windows or other programs no longer work.
Preventive steps
Note
If you know (or suspect) that your system is already infected with a virus, contact your antivirus software vendor for the appropriate security response and cleanup instructions.
Apply the latest patches and security updates available for your system
It is very important that your Microsoft operating system is kept up to date. The latest security updates and patches from Windows Update keep your computer secure. Setting Windows Update to automatically check for new updates is recommended. Before applying updates or service packs, ensure you have a backup of your personal files and programs to avoid data loss in case the update fails to apply properly.
You can also manually check for and install security updates.
Turn on Windows Firewall
- Open Control Panel
- In the Control Panel, select System and Security (view by Category)
- Under System and Security, click to open Windows Firewall. In the left panel, click Turn Windows Firewall on or off
- Ensure both the private and public network firewalls are turned on. It's recommended leaving the checkmarks in the notify option as seen below. Once you have selected both, click "OK"
Install, schedule and regularly update your antivirus/spyware software
Although Lenovo does not endorse any third-party antivirus software, some popular ones such as Symantec AntiVirus, McAfee VirusScan, Norton Internet Security are available to scan your system for viruses, and to remove or quarantine any virus that it finds. It is good to scan your system at least once a week for viruses. Updated virus definition files are available for download with these products to ensure your system is being scanned for the latest known viruses.
Set your browser's security settings to high
Do not open any unsolicited e-mail or e-mail attachments. Be sure to delete them. Clear your startup folder of unnecessary, or undesired items to increase your system's performance.
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