Hi GG,

As you must be aware that there is this latest threat of MYDOOM computer virus which is affecting the computers worldwide since yesterday.

I was doing some research over the net and I found that similar viruses in the past have affected the \"chat boards & forums\" like ours as well and have destroyed all the files, postings & threads etc.

Please let us know if this is correct and what precautions we have against these attacks. Also, as an IT expert, please guide the members about the \"DO's and DONT's\" of the internet surfing and how to prevent your computers from these attacks.

Thanks

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Pramod Chopra
Senior Mortgage Consultant
Mortgage Alliance Company of Canada

Pramodji, thanks for calling be an expert. Having more than 16 years in software development field, I know little bit about IT

Only thing this is a computer security issue which is not my domain.

This virus affected me too. It keep sending me many emails from all parts of world. As on CanadianDesi there are many email addressed posted.

For attackers Microsoft is an easy target. If you are using Microsoft Outlook Expresss and Outlook 2000 as soon as you get an email and try to read it, it will start sending emails to others from your directory list.

So during these days avoid using it.

With days of having wireless internet connections it is very important to have a firewall and a virus protector installed on every computer connected to the internet.

I think we have enough gurus on this board having expertise in this field - let us wait for their opinions.

Thanks

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A Proud Indian Canadian

Quote:

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Orginally posted by Pramod Chopra

Also, as an IT expert, please guide the members about the \"DO's and DONT's\" of the internet surfing and how to prevent your computers from these attacks.

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Mumbai Maazi Ladki ...

I am very particular as far as internet security is concerned as once because of ignorance I also lost some of my data but now I can not afford to do that as my data is my living (business). I can suggest some of the ways I am using to protect my computer and valuable data.

1. Always use a good Anti Virus Software and always keep it updated. The updates are free for an year or more from the date of first installation of the Anti Virus Program and you can keep the settings on 'automatic update' and then the program would automatically update and install any new patches made available by the anti virus software making company.

2. If you are using dial up access, then you are not very much prone to hacker's attack but as most of us are using high speed connections, either through cable or DSL (phone line service) and are always connected to the Internet, we are prone to attack by the malicious programs of the hackers who would use our computers as 'jombies' to launch 'denial of service attcks' on to bigger companies and their servers. Moreover, because of these hacking our valuable data and sanctity of our passwords, credit card information and bank information etc. is also jeopardized. Hence, all 'high speed users' should have a 'hardware firewall' ( Routers etc.) and 'software fiewall' like zone alarm etc. installed on their computer to avoid the possibilities of these virus attacks. I would suggest having 'Norton Internet Security' (that's the one I use) installed on your computer. The benefits of having this coupled with antivirus software are many fold.

A. You will be able to block most of the hacking attacks as it would block unused ports from your computer.

B. You can also block annoying 'pop ups'.

C. It also offers you 'parental control' and you can set various levels of internet access as per the age of the kids in home.

D. Do not open any email (specially with attachements) from any person you do not know or if the message or text does not make sense. Specially those where subject starts with Re: or Fw: as these could be mass mailing by the virus/worm infected computers.

Lastly, visit sites http://www.microsoft.com" rel="nofollow">LINK ; http://www.symantec.com" rel="nofollow">LINK & http://www.mcafee.com" rel="nofollow">LINK and learn more about various types of internet viruses floating and the ways to protect your valuable data and computers from them.

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Pramod Chopra
Senior Mortgage Consultant
Mortgage Alliance Company of Canada

Pramodji,

Aap to security guru nikale!!!

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A Proud Indian Canadian

Hi GG,

You can call it 'once bitten twice shy'.

I wanted to have opinions of your and other IT experts for the benefits of the community as a whole. I wrote what I am doing presently. One most important thing I forgot to mention is that ALWAYS BACKUP YOUR DATA (VALUABLE FILES, PROJECT WORK AND INFORMATION ETC.) on a separate disk and religiously update your backup at least once a week, say every weekend so that in case of any loss of data because of virus attack or hard disk failure, you will not loose much and would be able to up and running fast.

I would request others to add more to it for the benefit of every one.

Thanks

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Pramod Chopra
Senior Mortgage Consultant
Mortgage Alliance Company of Canada

I would like to add to promod's article with two more points

1. Also keep your windows update enabled so that you get microsoft patches and updates regularily

2. Most of us use the account which has administrator rights when connected to internet. We should use user account which has lower rights on the PC while browsing. ( This will protect unauthorized programs to automatically get installed.)

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Manjeet Singh