Well...April 1 went by quite uneventfully. We didn't even have one single computer come in for repair due to the Conficker worm!
As always; just practice safe 'surfing', keep your Windows software up to date, and maintain an up to date anti-virus program and you'll experience little to no interuption due to viruses on your computer.
- Charles
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Dear Members,
Funny enough, nobody has really mentioned anything to me about the so-called "April Fools Day Virus" that's been talked about in the news over the last few weeks....until TODAY!!
Now that my phone is done ringing about this for a little while; I figured I'd share a link to the Microsoft Corporation page that discusses the Conficker Virus.
You can view that information here:http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/viruses/worms/conficker.mspx
NOTE: One very interesting characteristic of this virus is that is can potentially block infected computers from visiting ANY Microsoft websites! It can also block viewing of most of the major Anti-Virus company websites too! This is an important function of the virus. It does this so that the user with an infected computer cannot receive any security updates for Windows and/or an Anti-Virus Definition update.
If you are unable to view the website at the link above, there is a chance your computer is already infected by the Conficker Virus. If you do experience this problem, try visiting the following sites...if they all give you problems; immediately disconnect from the internet and shut off your computer. Take it to your favorite computer repair shop (like our office here in Vassar!).
Anti-Virus Sites:www.Symantec.com
www.Grisoft.com
www.Avira.com
www.Kaskpersky.com
www.McAfee.com
ANOTHER NOTE: The primary "reason" for viruses now-a-days is as a tool for criminal enterprises to obtain identity and credit/banking info about the infected computer users. If you ever see a "anti-virus" program suddenly appear on your screen that informs you of thousands of infections on your computer....no matter how fancy or "real" it looks - don't trust it if you don't remember ever seeing that program come up on your computer before. These fake anti-virus programs (or "ScareWare" as they are now referred to as) are trying to steal your credit card information. They are NOT real programs. They are simple animations (everyone that gets it sees the exact same scan results!) that try to trick you into "upgrading" to the supposed "full version" of the program. It always seem like a good deal too, in the $24.95 range. But if you put in your credit card info; I assure you that you will not receive a legitimate anti-virus program and you will have just shared your credit card data with the bad guys.
Any questions...let us know.
Thank You and Happy April Fools Day!
- Charles Partridge