Mediascend's Weblog – Musings, ramblings and observations regarding video on the web

Who is Your Computer Sleeping With?

Friday, February 19th, 2010

Recently, CTO Steve Potter received a forwarded email from his mother-in-law that warned everyone of a virus going out by email that will basically eradicate your existence in the universe.  It contained lots of exclamation points and all-capital writing, two of Steve’s biggest pet peeves (his biggest pet peeve is people who discuss their pet peeves).  So he felt compelled to give his advice.

First, Steve doesn’t really use anti-virus software.  For him, it’s kinda like using protection with the ladies…if you don’t sleep with strangers you don’t need to worry about catching anything.  Anyway, below is what he wrote.  Disclaimer: in no way should you take his advice as gospel – in fact, we recommend using every single anti-virus/spyware package on the market, and also recommend wiping your computer down with sanitary wipes every 45 seconds and give it a glass of red wine every night.

To prevent viruses and other problems in general:

• Never agree to install anything that you aren’t 100% sure about.
• When installing software, be sure to opt out of “other” software they ask you to install.  Lots of programs want you to install Google Toolbar for instance.  You don’t need it.
• For programs you already installed, accept any updates they offer, as these updates guarantee the latest in security meaures.  Sometimes their update program asks you to install additional software (Apple is notorious for that)…don’t.
• Back up your data.  If you do nothing else, back up your data.  Right now.
• If you sign up for service (such as a web site for sharing recipes), do not use the same password as the email address you enter.  Think about it – if that service was malicious they could sign into your email account and wreak havoc.  If you have done this in the past, change your email password before reading on.
• Anti-virus and anti-spyware programs are helpful, but they are not a panacea and often once you have the virus the damage is already done.  I personally do not use anti-virus software and by using the techniques described above I have never had a problem.

Here’s the deal with email viruses:  you can open any email you want.  It’s the attachments that can cause a problem.  To avoid getting a virus:

• Delete emails from unknown parties without even reading them
• Never open attachments from someone you don’t know
• Never open attachments that seem suspicious.
• If you get an email from a person you know and it has an attachment, do not open it blindly.  If you are not expecting the email or it doesn’t seem genuine, write to that person and ask them if they authored that email.

Also, emails that start with silly uppercased sentences and many exclamation points, such as “READ IMMEDIATELY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” are generally authored by a person whose expertise is limited and therefore have no credibility and can be ignored.

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