Virus Protection

Viruses can enter a computer system through the Internet, newsgroups, or e-mail. Once in the computer system, they can spread when mail, files, or documents are shared. There are two ways to protect against viruses. One is to have virus-scanning software installed on the computers in your organization, which can detect and remove viruses. However, you must continue to update your virus-scanning software to protect your computers as viruses evolve. The second way to protect against viruses is to prevent the virus from entering your system by using firewall software that includes virus detection. You must continue to update your firewall software to keep up with changing viruses.

Even if you have virus-detection software in your firewall or on your users' computers, viruses can still enter your system. Messages that are encrypted cannot be scanned for viruses. A virus contained in an encrypted e-mail message escapes detection and can be activated when the message is opened by someone within your organization. For maximum protection, ask your users to minimize their exposure to viruses with the following practices:

• Do not open e-mail attachments from unknown sources. Tell your users to be extremely cautious with attachments.
• Log out. Tell your users to log off of their e-mail accounts when they are finished. If they are logging in remotely from a public terminal, tell them to log off when ending their session.
• Do not respond to spam. Tell your users that responding to unsolicited e-mail only confirms that they have an active e-mail address and could open your organization to an attack. Ask your users to forward spam to you so that you can filter it out by blocking e-mail from those IP addresses.
• Use common sense. Tell your users not to respond to requests for personal information, such as their passwords, even if the request seems to come from someone reputable.

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