2008 Woodie Awards
Keeping Your Computer Free From Illness
Free anit-virus software keeps students' computers healty
Travis Hofman
Issue date: 2/19/04 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
Hoards of viruses scourge the planet everyday. Not all of these are airborne or sexually transmitted; some are transmitted via the internet. Regardless of where they come from, they need to be protected against.
Lakeland's Information Technology (IT) department now allows students in residence halls, apartments and suites to download the latest in virus protection from McAfee. To download the software, go to the Lakeland College Start Page (www1.lakeland.edu/startpage/), click on the scroll down bar at the top right of the page, go to McAfee Antivirus client Residence Halls Only, and then follow the on screen instructions (see panel at right).
After installation is complete, IT will ensure that the software is as up-to-date as possible. There is an automated system in place to confirm that the virus definition files are updated. This almost guarantees that new viruses will be detected and eliminated before they can harm the computer.
Jeff Ritt, Director of Information Technology, emphasizes the fact that IT cannot use the software to have free access to computers that download the software, as some students seem to believe.
IT is also working on being able to update other virus protection programs as well.
It is possible to have more than one type of anti-virus software on a computer as there should not be any conflicts. This could protect the computer better than just having one anti-virus program. Both anti-virus programs should be able to run separate scans on files to determine if a virus is present.
These precautions came after the My Doom virus scare of late January. The virus could be downloaded via e-mail and file sharing programs like Kazaa. It appears as an attachment on e-mails and the virus automatically places itself on the shared directories for file sharing programs.
My Doom creates a back door into a person's computer to give hackers easy access to private drives. With this access, they could run malicious programming and download and upload files on your computer. Hackers can also scour through the computer for vital information like passwords and even social security numbers.
My Doom also scans hard drives, in search of e-mail addresses, and it sends itself to any destination it finds. This way, the virus arrives from a known sender, and the message is more likely to be opened.
There are two ways students can protect their computers from viruses and other harmful programs. One of them is to run Windows Update regularly, for this will help fix any exploitable weaknesses that hackers can use in the Windows operating system.
The other way is to obtain anti-spyware programs. Spyware is a program that is placed on a person's computer so that another party can spy on activities and tasks. This is used especially in Internet browsing and polluting a computer with relentless pop-up ads. Anti-spyware programs are designed to get rid of this type of software.
Lakeland's Information Technology (IT) department now allows students in residence halls, apartments and suites to download the latest in virus protection from McAfee. To download the software, go to the Lakeland College Start Page (www1.lakeland.edu/startpage/), click on the scroll down bar at the top right of the page, go to McAfee Antivirus client Residence Halls Only, and then follow the on screen instructions (see panel at right).
After installation is complete, IT will ensure that the software is as up-to-date as possible. There is an automated system in place to confirm that the virus definition files are updated. This almost guarantees that new viruses will be detected and eliminated before they can harm the computer.
Jeff Ritt, Director of Information Technology, emphasizes the fact that IT cannot use the software to have free access to computers that download the software, as some students seem to believe.
IT is also working on being able to update other virus protection programs as well.
It is possible to have more than one type of anti-virus software on a computer as there should not be any conflicts. This could protect the computer better than just having one anti-virus program. Both anti-virus programs should be able to run separate scans on files to determine if a virus is present.
These precautions came after the My Doom virus scare of late January. The virus could be downloaded via e-mail and file sharing programs like Kazaa. It appears as an attachment on e-mails and the virus automatically places itself on the shared directories for file sharing programs.
My Doom creates a back door into a person's computer to give hackers easy access to private drives. With this access, they could run malicious programming and download and upload files on your computer. Hackers can also scour through the computer for vital information like passwords and even social security numbers.
My Doom also scans hard drives, in search of e-mail addresses, and it sends itself to any destination it finds. This way, the virus arrives from a known sender, and the message is more likely to be opened.
There are two ways students can protect their computers from viruses and other harmful programs. One of them is to run Windows Update regularly, for this will help fix any exploitable weaknesses that hackers can use in the Windows operating system.
The other way is to obtain anti-spyware programs. Spyware is a program that is placed on a person's computer so that another party can spy on activities and tasks. This is used especially in Internet browsing and polluting a computer with relentless pop-up ads. Anti-spyware programs are designed to get rid of this type of software.