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Absolute PC security and privacy
[...]... (storing either 100MB or 250MB of data), and can easily be transferred from one PC to another Nearly all virus scanners read Zip disks Compact Flash (CF) and SmartMedia (SM) are two formats for storing large amounts of data in rewritable electronic memory These cards are commonly used in Palm and Pocket PC devices, but can also be found in some portable and desktop PCs CF cards can hold anywhere from 8MB... however, have to give up and throw your computer away Almost all viruses can be recovered from—some quite easily All you need is a little information, and the right tools The right tools include one of the major antivirus programs discussed in Chapter 9, “AntiVirus Software and Services.” These programs—such as Norton AntiVirus and McAfee VirusScan—identify infected files and then either disinfect... click a link, and have a file downloaded and saved to your computer’s hard disk The problem is, those files you download can contain viruses There are many ways to download files from the Internet, and they can all spread computer viruses: • Downloading program files from a software archive site—either with your Web browser, or with an FTP program Note FTP stands for file transfer protocol, and is an older... code can also reference ActiveX and JavaScript code (for controls and such), and since ActiveX and JavaScript code can include virus code, it’s possible to unknowingly launch a virus just by reading the contents of an e-mail message In reality, this is not a common means of infection, for a number of reasons First, you can configure your e-mail program not to run ActiveX and JavaScript controls, which... also be infected, thanks to macro viruses These are the files you create in Microsoft Word and Excel and PowerPoint, with DOC, DOT, XLS, XLW, and PPT extensions Some movie files can contain virus code In particular, WMV and AVI files pose a degree of risk in this fashion Other types of movie files—including QT and MPEG—do not pose a risk of infection Along the same lines, digital audio files have not... that they both can seriously damage your computer system Learn more about computer attacks in Chapter 13, “Understanding Internet-Based Attacks.” Risky Behavior So far, so good You can run commercial programs on your PC, surf the Web, send and receive e-mail, and even do a little chatting and instant messaging, all without putting your system at significant risk What, then, are the behaviors that do... involves connecting your PC to the PC of another user, and copying files back and forth between the two machines The problem, of course, occurs when you copy files that aren’t MP3s Maybe it’s an EXE file jigged to look like an MP3 file, or maybe it’s an obvious application file that you just couldn’t resist trying In any case, it’s all too easy to have a virus file swapped to your PC, especially if you’re... open any and all attachments without thinking, and contribute to today’s huge virus infection rates Accepting Files While Chatting and Messaging Exchanging text messages with other users is a relatively safe activity The activity becomes dangerous when you start receiving files from the people you talk to, or unsolicited files from other system users Download and open one of these files, and you run... They Work To understand how a boot sector virus works, you have to know a little bit about how your computer boots up and how data is stored on a floppy or hard disk Your PC s Boot Routine When you turn on your computer, it goes through a complicated startup routine, shown in Figure 3.1 (This whole routine is referred to as booting up.) The disks and memory on your system are checked, and then the first... in 2001 Note Learn more about e-mail viruses in Chapter 7, “E-Mail, Chat, and Instant Messaging Viruses.” Chat and Instant Messaging Viruses Many computer users like to chat online, either in public chat rooms or in private instant messaging (IM) conversations Most chat and IM programs let you send files across to other users, and it’s that capability that has contributed to the spread of so-called . computer attacks, and online privacy theft, and pop- up windows, and the like. And we’d give it an umbrella title that described all the various topics covered: Absolute PC Security and Privacy. All.