1 Foolish Act Is All It Takes to Be Infected
Last week, I noticed my PC was starting to slow down, acting generally sluggish and erratic. The word “virus” never entered my mind until I got a call from a radio station asking me to comment on the Sircam virus (which is actually a worm) infecting PCs around the world.
I gave my usual advice about how to detect and prevent viruses--always run anti-virus software and never open attached files that you aren’t expecting--and then it occurred to me: Could my PC have been infected by Sircam?
A quick visit to the Symantec Anti-Virus Center, at https://www.sarc.com, confirmed what I feared. That message I had opened a few nights earlier contained the words “I send you this file in order to have your advice” along with what I thought was a text file. Knowing that text files can’t contain viruses, I apparently opened the file.
Silly me. It wasn’t a text file but an executable file that had been renamed with the extension “.txt.” Had I looked at its name more carefully, I would have noticed it had two extensions--.txt, which is harmless, and .lnk, which is an executable link file that can contain a virus.
To confirm that I was infected, I used the RegEdit program to search the Windows registry for “Sircam” and, sure enough, I found it.
I shouldn’t have let my guard down. It’s best not to open any attachments you’re not expecting. At the very least, you should look at the file name carefully to be sure it’s not an executable file and doesn’t have a second extension.
Even though I might have slipped up this one time, I make it a general rule not to open unexpected attachments. When I get them I respond with a canned message:”Please do not send unsolicited attached files. They waste bandwidth and increase the risk of spreading a virus. A simple e-mail message will do. If you need to provide detail, put it on the Web and send a link.”
Had I been using the full version of Microsoft Outlook that comes with Office XP or an earlier version of Outlook that had been updated with the latest security patch--available from https://office.microsoft.com--I never could have opened these files from within Outlook. But last week, I was experimenting with the version of Outlook Express that will come with Windows XP.
My regular anti-virus software doesn’t yet work with Windows XP, which won’t be officially launched until October. After searching with Google for “anti virus and Windows XP,” I discovered that I could download a free Windows 2000 evaluation version of Sophos Anti-Virus from https://www.sophos.com. By this time, however, the machine was running so erratically that I decided to take a more drastic measure.
Fortunately, Windows XP, like Windows Me, has a “system restore” feature that lets you go back in time. I figured that the virus hit me sometime during the weekend, so I used the program to have my system revert to the way it was Friday. I rebooted, and all was well.
The hassle nonetheless reminded me of a few steps to take to prevent a virus and allow for a speedy recovery should you be infected. They are:
* Get an anti-virus program and keep it up to date.
* Don’t open attached files you aren’t expecting, even if you know the person who sent them. If in doubt, call or write the person to make sure it’s a legitimate file.
* Don’t send attached files unless it’s really necessary.
* Don’t download files from Web sites unless you’re sure the site is reputable.
* Keep an up-to-date backup of your data files.
* Keep a copy nearby of your Windows setup CD and CDs for all your important programs. Also keep serial numbers and CD-keys on file in case you need to reinstall.
* If you are running Windows 95 or Windows 98, consider getting a copy of GoBack (https://www.roxio.com/en/products/goback), which can get you out of virtually any trouble you find yourself in.
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Technology reports by Lawrence J. Magid can be heard between 2 and 3 p.m. weekdays on the KNX-AM (1070) Technology Hour.
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Connect: Check out past columns at www.latimes.com/pcfocus
