So, what can I do to protect myself?
The only way to assure you are 100% virus free is not to use a computer. I assume since you are reading this on a blog, that is not an option. Also, probably not an option is to not be connected to other computers via email, internet, floppy disks, CD-ROMs, etc. These can all be used to spread viruses; so if you do not ever transfer data through these avenues, you should be fairly safe.
What, you can’t give up your email? You can’t stop trading files with your friend in Germany? So, what do you do now? You must have a good virus scanning program. No option on this. Being as a lot of information from this article came from them, I feel fairly obligated to link to Sophos.com. They have an outstanding virus protection package. If you do not want to spend money, check out this article I wrote on H+BDEV Anti-Vir. It is a free virus scanner that is easy to set up and sits in memory checking all the files you use.
But, the best thing you can do is to be smart. Do not open emails from people you don’t know. And, if you do open the email, absolutely do not open any attachments. For that matter, don’t open any attachments unless the person sending it has told you it was coming.
With that said, there is nothing that can be done to get rid of viruses. In a similar thread to how humanity got rid of Polio only to have AIDS come up, new viruses will always be appearing. It is a war between the virus writers and the security professionals that protect us; and that competition plays a part in the virus writers motivation.
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