How to Prevent E-Mail Viruses

Remember when talk about computer viruses would terrorize your office? They’re still out there, and they are still scary – we just don’t hear much about them now until a big one hits. It definitely pays to be prepared and protect yourself. One of the easiest ways for your computer to catch a virus: your e-mail account.

Once the virus gets in your e-mail, it starts by taking all the addresses in your contact list, then it sends a copy of itself to all these contacts in an attachment, hoping someone will open it. And thus the process continues. There is also a file line here between protecting yourself, and paranoia. How far do you have to go?

• Use common sense. If something looks suspicious or if you get an attachment from someone you don’t know, don’t open it.
• Purchase and install an anti-virus program. Make sure you update as needed. The first time you update, you’ll have to manually update. Thereafter it should make automatic updates for you.
• Use your new anti-virus program to scan your attachments before you open them.
• If your e-mail automatically opens attachments, disable this feature.
• Schedule regular scans with your anti-virus software.