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You
Can Make a Difference in Virus Prevention
By
Raymond Poon
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Quite
a
number
of
University
PCs
were
infected
by
the
recent
outbreaks
of
the
viruses/worms,
viz.
MS
Blaster,
W32/Welchia
(or
W32/Nachi)
and
Sobig-F.
The
University
not
only
acquires
sufficient
licenses
for
the
Windows,
MS-Office,
and
McAfee
anti-virus
software
but
also
frequently
promotes
user
awareness
and
provides
timely
warnings
on
computer
viruses.
Yet
it
is
surprised
to
see
that
there
are
still
machines,
especially
those
not
managed
by
the
Computing
Services
Centre
(CSC),
which
are
not
installed
with
the
latest
patches
or
updates
for
these
licensed
software.
Some
were
even
found
running
without
any
anti-virus
software
or
any
patch
at
all.
As
a
result,
those
machines
with
well-known
vulnerabilities
in
the
OS
and
application
software
were
being
exploited
to
hack
or
spread
viruses
on
other
machines
both
on
campus
and
the
Internet.
In
order
to
effectively
stop
these
damaging
activities
on
our
campus
network,
you
are
urged
to
take
the
following
actions
on
your
office
computers
as
well
as
the
remote
ones
if
you
have
not
already
done
so:
-
Install
the
latest
patches
for
the
operating
system
(e.g.,
Microsoft
Windows)
and
all
application
software
running
under
it.
Also
regularly
connect
to
their
respective
Update
Web
Sites
to
check,
download
and
apply
all
the
available
critical
patches
on
your
machines.
The
latest
patches
not
only
make
your
system
run
more
reliably
but
also,
more
importantly,
rectify
known
vulnerabilities
which
are
likely
to
be
exploited
by
viruses
or
hackers.
Without
these
patches,
even
with
the
anti-virus
software
installed,
your
machine
may
still
contract
or
repeatedly
contract
new
or
known
viruses.
-
Install
the
latest
version
of
the
anti-virus
software
with
the
latest
virus
signature
file.
Thereafter
you
can
keep
the
virus
signature
file
up-to-date
automatically
by
taking
advantage
of
its
auto-update
function.
-
You
should
be
aware
that
the
anti-virus
software
are
most
effective
on
known
viruses
and
less
or
even
ineffective
on
unknown
ones.
Most
viruses/worms
are
spread
through
email,
file
copying,
Internet
access,
etc.
Even
with
the
latest
software
patches
and
the
most
up-to-date
virus
signature
file
in
place,
sometimes
they
may
not
be
enough
to
protect
you
from
contracting
new
viruses/worms.
Therefore,
especially
during
a
virus
outbreak,
all
the
necessary
preventive
measures
must
be
taken
and
recovery
procedures
be
planned
prior
to
using
email,
performing
file
copy,
or
accessing
the
Internet.
It
is
important
not
to
open
or
to
download
any
file
or
email
attachment
from
unknown
or
un-trusted
sources.
If
you
have
to
open
it,
backup
all
your
critical
files
or
build
a
disk
image
before
doing
so.
Whenever
possible,
use
only
pure
text
or
text
files
for
communication.
Always
disable
all
automatic
execution
of
scripts
or
applets
whenever
feasible.
-
Advanced
users
may
consider
using
Personal
Firewall
(PF)
to
provide
another
layer
of
protection
to
their
computers.
The
PF
allows
you
to
block
access
from
unknown
users
and,
more
importantly,
network
connection
requested
by
otherwise
normal
applications
but
exhibiting
strange
behaviour
such
as:
request
to
connect
to
some
unknown
sites
for
no
apparent
reason.
The
latter
function
of
the
PF
prevents
your
application
from
infecting
or
hacking
other
machines
on
the
Internet
even
though
your
machine
has
already
contracted
virus
or
been
hacked.
However,
care
must
be
exercised
not
to
block
other
legitimate
housekeeping
jobs
initiated
by
the
CSC
such
as:
forcing
new
software
patches
or
virus
signature
files
to
your
machine.
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