ABOUT FACTS NET Computers

Why do some people do what they do? Some people actually get a thrill or kick from causing harm to others. I was never able to understand what fun this is. For example, my home computer has been under a relentless virus attack. I just can't figure what fun someone gets from this. I remember talking to a politician who was very happy. He said, Ken, this is a great day. I asked him why? He stated that he had just prevented someone from getting on the ballot who he felt didn't support him thirty years ago. Then he added the part that I can't understand, he said, "he will never know who did this to him." I remember thinking to myself, what good is that, if it is revenge you are seeking, wouldn't you want someone to know who did it to them? He was quite happy just knowing that he had screwed this guy.

These virus writers and spreaders never see their handy work destroying the content of individual computers. They just seem to relish the fact that they will be destroying things and the hell with the people they inconvenience or cost money to. They are sort of like my politician friend, just knowing the carnage they cause is enough. They even go into competition with each other leaving messages in the viruses software saying how good they are. For this they risk large fines and even prison. Why would they want to do this? Does the reward make the risk worthwhile? I don't think so. Maybe I could understand it better if someone was offering a reward for the best virus or most machines crashed or biggest company site put out of service, but no such thing exists. I am not saying I condone it, not at all. I think these guys and gals need a little time behind bars to get their heads on straight.

I had more worms on my computer than a bait store. In case you don't know what a worm is, it is a specific type of virus that replicates itself and usually does harm to a computer, but there is the type that just goes to your email list and sends itself to all your contacts. If you get infected with one of these viruses you can usually find instructions on how to get rid of it on the internet by using a search engine and putting in the name of the virus as the search term. I had one once and used the name and the word removal and the answer came up right away. What really ticked me off today was the fact that in the long list of email addresses that contained the viruses I found my own. There was my very own email address being used to send me a virus. Bad enough getting hundreds of virus emails but to use my own private address, it was like getting shot with your own gun.

I am very lucky that I have good antivirus software which, so far, as caught all the viruses sent my way. But everyone knows that sooner or later at least one may get through. See, that is the problem, the new viruses come out faster than the antivirus program writers can cope with them. You have to hope that if you are attacked, that the virus is at least a few days old. Even here there is hope however. Most good antivirus programs contain a method for detecting viral programs even before they are known. It is called Heuristic. This process takes longer when scanning but is definitely worth it. If your antivirus software has this option, use it.

I don't want to leave anyone thinking that virus writers get away with it. While some might, many are getting caught lately. The FBI caught the writer of the Zotob worm on August 29, 2005. It seems that two people in Turkey and Morocco were caught and arrested by the local police. Microsoft Corporation worked with the authorities to bring these people down. People may laugh at Microsoft and all the holes in their software, but believe me, you don't want them after you. After all they have thousands of software engineers that they can put on your trail. Last year the writer of the Sasser Worm was caught and confessed. He was a German national and was 18 years of age. What a waste.

Another problem is that the big corporations are no longer the only targets for virus attacks. Years ago the virus writers thought that it just wasn't worth it to attack home users, after all, where was the prestige in bringing down the average person's computer, when this person barely knew how to turn it on? All this has changed now and no one is safe anymore. I was getting about 3 viruses sent to me a day, but today I received in excess of 100. I am just an average guy with a hobby web site, I certainly don't qualify as big business or even business at all. One thing that I have noticed lately is that my email hasn't always been working correctly. I have no problems receiving mail at any of my addresses but I have been having problems sending mail. Sometimes it works fine and at other times, it doesn't work at all. Could this be caused by someone sending out unauthorized email using my address, I hope not. I have notified the site administrators of the problem and hope it can be checked out.

Remember to avoid getting infected you must have a good antivirus program and keep it updated. I leave my computer on at night and set the antivirus program to update and scan my computer every night. It seems to work fine for me. Since I built this computer, about two and one half years ago, I haven't got infected, although I did on other machines prior to this one. By the way, in case you are wondering, I use the AVG antivirus program in conjunction with Surfguard. Both have free editions which work fine but I use AVG Pro which is not free.