Please select from the topics below.

Topics:
• Viruses
• Trojan Horses
• Worms
• Protecting Your PC and Data from Viruses
• What is Spyware/Adware?
• How to Protect Your PC and Data
• Hard Drive Failures
• Physical Hard Drive Failures
• Operating System Failure
• Our Goal

Viruses
A computer virus is a program (a block of executable code), which attaches itself to, overwrites or otherwise replaces another program in order to reproduce itself without the knowledge of the computer user. (See chart on next page for more details.) Many viruses are comparatively harmless, and may be present for years with no noticeable effect. Some, however, may cause random damage to data files (sometimes insidiously, over a long period) or attempt to destroy files or make disks unreadable. Still others cause unintended damage??
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Trojan Horses
A Trojan Horse is a program intended to perform some covert and usually malicious act, which the victim did not expect or want. It differs from a normal virus in that it doesn’t reproduce ? though this distinction is by no means universally accepted. An infamous “trojan horse” is a fake version of a popular “shareware” archiving program, “PKZIP”. This “Trojan Horse” first surfaced in May of 1995, but warnings about it are still circulating on the Internet.
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Worms
A worm is a program, which spreads on its own. Unlike a virus, it does not attach itself to a host program. Unlike a trojan horse, it reproduces and spreads by itself. In practice, worms are not normally associated with personal computer systems?
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(source: http://training.binghamton.edu/navdisplay.asp?navfilename=NAV-FMVI

Protecting Your PC and Data from Viruses!
Having an anti-virus program is simply not enough to protect your computer (http://www.webtree.ca/newlife/virus_faq.htm ). One will need to keep the program?s definitions database up to date and scan on a regular basis. A virus/Trojan/worm can reach your computer dozens of ways and having a quality anti-virus program is the first line of defense. A quality anti-virus program will automatically update (if constantly connected to the internet via broad-band) and will have real-time scanning in the background, as well as the ability to schedule full system scans. Sometimes extra steps are needed to remove infection if your anti-virus program detects an infection.

It is also important to regularly update your operating system with security patches that the vendor makes available. Always back up important data and files before applying security patches and make sure anti-virus/anti-spyware programs are turned OFF before installing. Only download security patches from the official source of the operating system vendor.

Most modern day viruses/Trojans/worms are used to turn your PC into a “Zombie” machine. Your machine can be used to infect and attack other machines all across the internet. All of this happens in the background the user may only notice a degredation in performance or other uncharacteristic traits of the PC (strange pop messages, unusual amounts of pop-ups while browsing the web, unknown software being installed, etc.). While a virus/Trojan/worm may not intentionally be malicious as far as deleting data, it is making changes to your Operating System which can cause the Operating System to become unstable and possibly unusable.

One should also routinely backup their data to an external source ( CDR, DVD, Tape, External HD, etc) to protect from potential data loss that occurs while being infected and/or attempting to remove infection. It is not uncommon to have a PC thoroughly infected to the point of the only possible removal of infection is to completely reformat the hard drive/operating system . Always back up important data and files to an external source, have software disks/licenses available on hand.
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What is Spyware/Adware?
The line between spyware/adware/viruses/trojans is growing thin; however, the definition of Spyware is: ?Any software that covertly gathers user information through the user’s Internet connection without his or her knowledge, usually for advertising purposes? (http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/s/spyware.html).

Adware can be classed as software application which advertise using popup / pop up banners without asking the user. Spyware programs run without the user?s knowledge and can also store marketing / search word information and can slow down a pc. Adware and spyware programs are often the same thing and usually come as a total application,? (http://www.internet-guide.co.uk/Adware.html ).

Because spyware exists as independent executable programs, they have the ability to monitor keystrokes, scan files on the hard drive, snoop other applications, such as chat programs or word processors, install other spyware programs, read cookies, change the default home page on the Web browser, consistently relaying this information back to the spyware author who will either use it for advertising/marketing purposes or sell the information to another party, (http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/s/spyware.html ).
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How to Protect Your PC and Data
A quality anti-spyware/adware program should be installed on your PC. A quality program will automatically update its protection database files (if connected to internet constantly via broad-band), have real-time scanning protection as well as the ability to schedule full system scans. There are lots of programs out on the internet that claim to be anti-spyware programs but are actually malicious software themselves. It is important to thoroughly research any anti-spyware product before installing it on your pc.

Also, the main goal of spyware is to gather personal information from your PC; however, the corruption of data and/or operating system is always a possibility and not uncommon. One must regularly back up their important data and files to an external source (CD, DVD, Tape, External HD, etc.) to keep possible damage to a minimum. It is also not uncommon to have an infection so great that the only remedy is to reformat the hard drive. Keeping your operating system up to date with available security patches is also recommended. Always back up important data and files before applying security patches make sure anti-virus/anti-spyware programs are turned OFF before installing. Only download security patches from the official source of the operating system vendor.
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Hard Drive Failures
What is a Hard Drive? ?Noun: hard drive. Computer hardware that holds and spins a magnetic or optical disk and reads and writes information on it – disk drive, disc drive, Winchester drive.? (http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/HARDDRIVE ).

Basically, a hard drive is a spinning magnet disk inside your computer that stores the operating system, installed programs, and data such as word files or pictures for long term storage. The hard drive is a mechanical device that is sensitive to temperature, abrupt movement, electric shock, strong magnetic fields, among other things.
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Physical Hard Drive Failures
Because the hard drive is a mechanical device it is subject to failing in a physical manner. Physical damage can come from general failure of use, damage from power spikes such as lightning or other electrical issues, etc., and could fail at any time for any reason. The extent of a physical failure can vary in each individual case from the drive failing to spin, a loud or faint ?galloping? sound when the drive spins, to unfixable damage to the magnetic clusters on the surface of the disk. Technicians are sometimes able to recover data from a failed or failing hard drive. However, each case is examined individually and results will vary. It is extremely important that one backs up important data and documents to an external source (CD, DVD, Tape, External HD, etc.) as a technician cannot always guarantee data recovery. If the extent of recovering data from the physically failed hard drive is beyond the resources of a technician the only option is to send to a company that specifically specializes in data recovery. The cost of this is usually extremely expensive with an up front fee. Also, integrity and possibility of data recovery is never guaranteed by such a company.

In all, there are multiple ways a hard drive can physically fail. The best way to recover from a disaster such as a hard drive failure is to plan preemptively for such a situation.
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Operating System Failure
What is an operating system? An operating system (OS) is a software program that manages the hardware and software resources of a computer. A key component of system software, the OS performs basic tasks, such as controlling and allocating memory, prioritizing the processing of instructions, controlling input and output devices, facilitating networking, and managing files,(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_system ). The most common operating systems on PCs today is Microsoft Windows 9.x through XP. An operating system can fail to boot for many different reasons including but not exclusive to, virus and spyware infection, corrupted hard drive, failed hard drive, shutting operating system down improperly, power spikes, etc.

If an operating system fails to boot, it is not uncommon for the only step to repair the damage done is by reformatting (reloading operating system on the hard drive from scratch) and then reloading each individual software program from scratch. Recovering data is not always possible from an operating system failure. It is extremely important that one backs up important data and documents to an external source (CD, DVD, Tape, External HD, etc.) as a technician cannot always guarantee data recovery. The best way to recover from a disaster such as a hard drive failure is to plan preemptively for such a situation. Please also refer to importance of keeping software disks/licenses available on hand.

Important: Keep Software Disks and Licenses

Computer software is defined as the programs that control the computer system. Software includes the operating system, system utilities, computer languages, and computer applications, (http://www.aspire.cs.uah.edu/textbook/introcomp6.html ).

The operating system (such as Microsoft Windows XP) is the most important piece of software on your computer. Other important software can include Microsoft Office (a suite of software that can include Word, Excel, Access, etc.), and other proprietary software specific to the users needs.

It is very common for software to be distributed on CDs, DVDs, downloaded directly from vendor, and include a license key. A license key is normally a mixture of random letters and numbers that a user must supply in order to install software onto the PC and use within the operating system.

License keys for the Operating System are normally, but not always, affixed to the outside of the PC. While the most common Operating System is Microsoft Windows, each manufacture of PCs can possibly use a specific version of Microsoft Windows as an operating system and that specific disk must be supplied in order to install or reload the operating system.

License keys for proprietary software are usually affixed to the CD jewel case, attached on a certificate supplied by software vendor, or in an email supplied by the software vendor.

Only under very specific circumstances can an Operating System or proprietary software sharing the same License key be loaded onto multiple PCs at the same time. If the Operating System or software licenses are not specific for volume use it is not legal to have specified software loaded onto more than one machine.

In the event of a disaster it is necessary for the user to supply the technician with such said disks and licenses both for the operating system and specific software applications the user will need reloaded. We often ask clients to supply any and every disk they possibly can associated with their computer.
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Our Goal
At I.C.E., our number one goal is protection of the client and their data. We painstakingly take every pre-caution we can to protect and/or recover data, operating system, etc. from the aforementioned common disasters. There are certain circumstances that are out of our control. We hope that this handout has shed some light on the common challenges we face together in an IT centered world.
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Indiana Computer Enterprises, Inc. (317)299-3314